Compatible version module loading

A computer system capable of loading and executing software, the computer system comprising:

• a memory which temporarily stores software modules for execution;
• a processor which executes loaded software modules;
• and
• a loader which loads said software modules into the memory, wherein the loader selects at least some software modules for loading based on acceptable version numbers when such modules are available in a plurality of versions identified by a set of version numbers.

A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium on which is stored a program instructions for loading a software program into memory, the software program including multiple modules, at least one of which is available in a plurality of versions identified by a set of version numbers, the program instructions comprising:

• identifying a module to be loaded as part of the software program, wherein the module is identified, at least in part, by an acceptable version number;
• selecting the module based upon an acceptable version number from among the set of versions numbers of the module;
• and
• loading the selected module into memory.

A method managing a software environment, the software environment including a plurality of software applications, the plurality of software applications including a module having a common name, the method comprising:

• loading a first numbered version of the module having a common name for a first application;
• loading a second numbered version of the module having a common name for a second application;
• running the first numbered version of the module having a common name;
• and
• running the second numbered version of the module having a common name.

A machine readable medium on which is provided a software module available for loading to memory and subsequently executing;

• the software module comprising:
• a definition section specifying a module name and a version number;
• a code section containing program instructions;
• and
• a compatibility vector identifying one or more called modules to be called by the software module during execution, and for each such called module identifying one or more versions of the called module that are compatible with the software module.