Constraints:
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The problem is decomposed using some form of abstraction (procedures, functions, objects, etc.)
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All or some of those abstractions are physically encapsulated into their own, usually pre-compiled, packages. Main program and each of the packages are compiled independently. These packages are loaded dynamically by the main program, usually in the beginning (but not necessarily).
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Main program uses functions/objects from the dynamically-loaded packages, without knowing which exact implementations will be used. New implementations can be used without having to adapt or recompile the main program.
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External specification of which packages to load. This can be done by a configuration file, path conventions, user input or other mechanisms for external specification of code to be linked at run time.
Possible names:
- No commitment
- Plugins
- Dependency injection