Summary
The concept of interoperability is nuanced.
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Between Here and There
The OSID APIs are designed to be software interfaces where concerns of serialization and data store are notably absent as they are assumed to be handled under an interface as part of an OSID Provider.
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Interoperability in itself is an abstract concept. In the physical world it is often related to things like shape. For example, Lego’s have a particular shape that allows them to fit together. The shape consists of a pattern of bumps. This pattern is very precise. The bumps are cylindrical with an exact diameter, height and distance apart. The fact that the bumps might be 2 mm high rather than 3mm, is not what is important about Legos. It’s the fact that they all have the same pattern. This mean any two Legos can fit together, and that two Legos can be pulled apart and a third inserted in between.
The same holds true for OSIDs. They do have a precisely defined pattern, but the details of this are less important, than what the effect of this pattern is. It allows two pieces of software that correspond to this pattern to easily fit together. It also allows for inserting an extra piece of software in between the original two without effecting either.
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