Delegate control

A method of replacing a delegate component associated with a delegate modular software component (“associate delegate component”) at software execution time, the method comprising:

• obtaining a delegate modular software component identifier;
• selecting one of a plurality of candidate modular software components having a higher priority level than other of the plurality of candidate modular software components and a scope, wherein the one of the plurality of candidate modular software components has the same identifier as the delegate modular software component identifier;
• and
• replacing the associate delegate component with the one of the plurality of candidate modular software components during the execution of software including the delegate modular software component, the software including the delegate modular software component having a scope of execution within a hierarchical computing system, the scope of execution being associated with the scope of the one of a plurality of candidate modular software components.

A hierarchical computer system for execution of software including a delegate modular software component, the hierarchical computer system comprising:

• a plurality of servers;
• a feature registry used to hold a plurality of candidate modular software components;
• a processing module used for:
• obtaining a delegate modular software component identifier;
• selecting one of a plurality of candidate modular software components having a higher priority level than other of the plurality of candidate modular software components and a scope, wherein the one of the plurality of candidate modular software components has the same identifier as the delegate modular software component identifier;
• and
• replacing a delegate component associated with the delegate modular software component (“associate delegate component”) with the one of the plurality of candidate modular software components during the execution of software including the delegate modular software component, the software including the delegate modular software component having a scope of execution within a hierarchical computing system, the scope of execution being associated with the scope of the one of a plurality of candidate modular software components.