Method and apparatus for transporting behavior in an event-based distributed system

A distributed computer system comprising:

• a memory containing a first virtual machine;
• a memory containing a second virtual machine executing a process that receives, from the first virtual machine, a registration of interest in an event and transmits a message in response to the occurrence of the event, the registration of interest and the message including computer code;
• and
• a memory containing a third virtual machine for receiving the message and executing the computer code;
• and
• processors for running the first virtual machine, the second virtual machine, and the third virtual machine.

A computer readable medium containing instructions for controlling program execution in a distributed computer system, the instructions causing the distributed computer system to perform the steps of:

• registering interest in an event in the distributed computer system, the registration of interest including information identifying the event, an identifier of a software entity in the distributed system, and computer code for executing a process;
• monitoring at least a portion of the distributed computer system for the occurrence of the registered event;
• notifying the software entity identified in the registration of interest when the event occurs, the notification including a copy of the computer code and an identification of the event that occurred;
• and
• executing methods contained within the first object in response to the notifying step.

A computer readable medium containing instructions for implementing a protocol for controlling the execution of processes in a distributed computer system, the instructions causing a computer in the distributed computer system to perform the steps of:

• receiving a registration of interest in an event in the distributed computer system, the registration including an identifier of a software entity in the distributed system and a first object, the first object including computer instructions for performing a process and parameter data corresponding to the process;
• monitoring the distributed system for the occurrence of the registered event;
• and
• notifying the software entity identified in the registration of interest when the event occurs, the notification including a copy of the first object and an identification of the event that occurred.