Computing expression medium, development environment, and device communication and control architecture

1. A method comprising:

receiving, from a repository, an instance of a first component, wherein the instance of the first component comprises a first set of one or more metaobjects that provides a binary representation of the instance of the first component;

rendering the instance of the first component as an icon and a first set of one or more underlying panes that provide a visual expression of the instance of the first component;

receiving, via the first set of one or more underlying panes, a user modification to the instance of the first component;

determining whether the user modification to the instance of the first component is valid, wherein said first component includes a metaobject having at least one method slot defining a method for checking the semantics of said first component, wherein said determining whether the user modification to the instance of the first component is valid includes retrieving, from said method slot, said method and employing said method;

processing the user modification in accordance with the determining,

wherein the first component is linked to a second component,

receiving, from the repository, an instance of the second component that comprises a second set of one or more metaobjects; and

rendering the second set of one or more metaobjects as a slot icon in the first set of one or more panes and a second set of one or more underlying panes that provide a visual expression of the second set of one or more metaobjects.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the user modification to the instance of the first component is valid comprises determining that the user modification is invalid, and wherein processing the user modification in accordance with the determining comprises:

rejecting the user modification; and

displaying a notification indicating that the user modification has been rejected.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the user modification to the instance of the first component is valid comprises determining that the user modification is valid, and wherein processing the user modification in accordance with the determining comprises:

transmitting the user modification to the repository.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

receiving, from the repository, an indication that the repository has made a further determination of whether the user modification is valid; and

displaying a notification indicating results from the further determination by the repository.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the instance of the first component comprises a copy of an original instance of the first component that is stored in the repository.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user modification comprises a new value entered into a predefined field of the first set of one or more underlying panes.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user modification is syntactically constrained by the first set of one or more panes.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first set of one or more panes comprises a primary pane and a set of one or more secondary panes.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first component is part of a context to be distilled for processing in a machine.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that are executable to cause a computing system to:

receive, from a repository, an instance of a first component, wherein the instance of the first component comprises a first set of one or more metaobjects that provides a binary representation of the instance of the first component;

render the instance of the first component as an icon and a first set of one or more underlying panes that provide a visual expression of the instance of the first component;

receive, via the first set of one or more underlying panes, a user modification to the instance of the first component;

determine whether the user modification to the instance of the first component is valid, wherein said first component includes a metaobject having at least one method slot defining a method for checking the semantics of said first component, wherein said determining whether the user modification to the instance of the first component is valid includes retrieving, from said method slot, said method and employing said method;

process the user modification in accordance with the determination,

wherein the first component is linked to a second component,

receive, from the repository, an instance of the second component that comprises a second set of one or more metaobjects; and

render the second set of one or more metaobjects as a slot icon in the first set of one or more panes and a second set of one or more underlying panes that provide a visual expression of the second set of one or more metaobjects.

11. A method comprising:

a repository sending, to a computing system, an instance of a first component, wherein the instance of the first component comprises a first set of one or more metaobjects that provides a binary representation of the instance of the first component,

wherein said repository renders the instance of the first component as an icon and a first set of one or more underlying panes that provide a visual expression of the instance of the first component;

the repository receiving, from the computing system, a user modification to the instance of the first component;

the repository determining whether the user modification to the instance of the first component is valid, wherein said first component includes a metaobject having at least one method slot defining a method for checking the semantics of said first component, wherein said determining whether the user modification to the instance of the first component is valid includes retrieving, from said method slot, said method and employing said method;

the repository processing the user modification in accordance with the determining, wherein the first component is linked to a second component,

the repository retrieving an instance of the second component that comprises a second set of one or more metaobjects; and

the repository rendering the second set of one or more metaobjects as a slot icon in the first set of one or more panes and a second set of one or more underlying panes that provide a visual expression of the second set of one or more metaobjects.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

the repository transmitting, to the computing system, a notification of whether the user modification is valid.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the instance of the first component comprises a copy of an original instance of the first component that is stored in the repository.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

in association with sending the copy, the repository locking the original instance of the first component;

the repository receiving, from the computing device, an instruction to release the original instance of the first component; and

in response to the instruction, the repository releasing the lock on the original instance of the first component.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein determining whether the user modification to the instance of the first component is valid comprises determining that the user modification is valid, and wherein processing the user modification in accordance with the determining comprises updating the original instance of the first component based on the user modification.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first component is part of a context to be distilled for processing in a machine.

17. A repository comprising:

a communication interface configured to communicate with one or more computing systems;

a processor;

data storage;

a plurality of components stored in data storage, wherein each component comprises a set of one or more metaobjects that provides a binary representation of the component; and

program instructions stored in data storage and executable by the processor to cause the repository to:

send, to a computing system, an instance of a first component, wherein the instance of the first component comprises a first set of one or more metaobjects that provides a binary representation of the instance of the first component;

render, at said computing system, the instance of the first component as an icon and a first set of one or more underlying panes that provide a visual expression of the instance of the first component;

receive, from the computing system, a user modification to the instance of the first component;

determine whether the user modification to the instance of the first component is valid, wherein said first component includes a metaobject having at least one method slot defining a method for checking the semantics of said first component, wherein said determining whether the user modification to the instance of the first component is valid includes retrieving, from said method slot, said method and employing said method;

process the user modification in accordance with the determining,

wherein the first component is linked to a second component,

retrieve an instance of the second component that comprises a second set of one or more metaobjects; and

render the second set of one or more metaobjects as a slot icon in the first set of one or more panes and a second set of one or more underlying panes that provide a visual expression of the second set of one or more metaobjects.