Dynamic Binding

Kind: mechanism

Layer: Extensibility Core

Aliases: Late Binding, Runtime Binding

Record: architecture:dynamic-binding

Severity: contextual

Scope: runtime, interface, plugin, module, service

Canonical: Ontology

A mechanism that selects the implementation behind an interface at runtime, from configuration or a registry, so the choice is made at bootstrap or first use rather than fixed in code.

Listed in Architecture principles, after Service Discovery and before Dynamic Dispatch.

Requires

• Abstraction
• Runtime Resolution

Reinforces

• Polymorphism
• Extensibility
• Runtime Extensibility

Enables

• Strategy Swap
• Deferred Implementation Choice

Conflicts with

• Compile-Time Binding

In tension with

• Static Safety
• Predictability
• Debugging

Tensions

• Dynamic Binding / Static Safety
• Dynamic Binding / Predictability
• Dynamic Binding / Debugging

Violated by

• Compile-Time Binding

Refactored by

• Factory Pattern
• Registry
• Strategy Pattern

Severity

• contextual

Category

• Runtime Discovery / Dynamic Binding

Enabled by

• Capability Declaration
• Reflection

Reinforced by

• Service Registry

Linked from

• Runtime Discovery / Dynamic Binding
• Correctness / Determinism / Verification
• Core Modular Design
• SOLID / Object-Oriented Design
• Metadata / Self-Description / Declarative Systems
• Metaprogramming / Language-Oriented Architecture
• Plugin / Extensibility / IoC
• Core Modular Design
• Core Vocabulary
• Plugin / Extensibility / IoC
• Quality Attributes
• Runtime Discovery / Dynamic Binding
• Severity levels
• The resolutions