COHERENT OBJECT SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE

A method and apparatus are provided for controlling the execution of a software program. According to one embodiment, control flow information including multiple states associated with a software program is made accessible. Each of the states includes information indicative of desired control flow of the software program and information indicative of desired behavior of the software program. A determination is made if a current status of the software program has a predetermined relationship with an expected state of execution of the software program. Based upon the result of the determination and the information indicative of desired behavior, the software program is caused to perform an action and caused to transition from the current state to a next state. According to another embodiment, specification of a control flow architecture associated with a software program is simplified to the provision of certain control flow information that is accessible to a control flow engine. The control flow information need only include information indicative of desired control flow of the software program and information indicative of desired behavior of the software program.