In computing, open implementation platforms are systems where the implementation is accessible. Open implementation allows developers of a program to alter pieces of the underlying software to fit their specific needs. With this technique it is far easier to write general tools, though it makes the programs themselves more complex to design and use.
There are also open language implementations, which make aspects of the language implementation accessible to application programmers.
Open implementation is not to be confused with open source, which allows users to change implementation source code, rather than using existing application programming interfaces.
Famous quotes containing the word open:
“The confusion is not my invention. We cannot listen to a conversation for five minutes without being aware of the confusion. It is all around us and our only chance now is to let it in. The only chance of renovation is to open our eyes and see the mess. It is not a mess you can make sense of.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)