Toward fluent module interactions

Recent progress on sensor technologies poses challenges on software development such as more interaction with physical environment and context-awareness. This trend makes it difficult to decide the boundaries between changing module interactions. In this paper, we propose a concept of fluent module interactions where we characterize the module interactions in three dimensions, i.e., definition, duration, and scope. Module interactions in any of those dimensions can change dynamically. We also propose a possible extension of existing programming language with fluent module interactions based on context-oriented programming (COP). Then, we derive a future research roadmap for realizing fluent module interactions that covers a wide range of research fields including theory, implementation, engineering, and applications.