attachconnect

Attachconnect is a software framework and runtime designed to simplify the integration of modular components within a host application. It provides a standardized mechanism to attach optional plugins and establish data or control connections between them. The goal is to enable flexible, extensible architectures without requiring changes to core code.

The framework exposes an attach registry, a set of attachment points, and a connectors layer. Attach points declare available capabilities or interfaces; connectors translate between different formats or protocols and establish routes between components. Plugins can be discovered at runtime, loaded, and registered with the lifecycle manager.

Operation involves negotiating compatibility and configuring bindings when a component is attached. Data or control messages flow through connectors along defined routes; the system supports synchronous and asynchronous modes, backpressure, and error handling. The lifecycle manager handles initialization, activation, suspension, and teardown, ensuring resources are released properly.

Applications include data processing pipelines, IoT gateways, application integration, and extensible software platforms. Examples include attachconnect-core, which provides the API surface and plugin loader, and attachconnect-cli, a command-line interface for managing attachments and routes.

History and standards note that the concept emerged in the mid-2010s as part of plugin-based architectures and dataflow programming. It emphasizes portability, security, and versioning of plugins. Limitations can include potential complexity and performance overhead in highly dynamic environments.