An operating context (OC) for an application is defined by the hardware/software environment in the device, as well as the target user, and other constraints imposed by various other stakeholders.

This concept differs from the Operating system by the impact of these various other stakeholders.

Classic Example

Here is the classic example of one device, with one operating system, changing it's operating context without changing the OS.

A user with a mobile phone pops SIM card A out of his phone, and pops in SIM card B. The phone will now be making any network calls over cell phone carrier A's network, rather then carrier B.

Any applications running on the phone will be running in a new operating context, and will often have to change functionality to adapt to the capabilities, and business logic, of the new carrier. The network, spectrum, and wireless protocol all change in this example. These changes have to be reflected back to the user, so the user knows what expereience to expect, and thus these changes all change the UI as well.

Hardware Agnostic Operating Context

There are situations where one can program in a context, with less concern about what hardware it will actually run on. Flash is an example of this. Android_(mobile_phone_platform) is as well.

Unfortunately, it also quite common that code free in a hardware free context, will see hardware specific bugs. This is common with software that interacts most directly with PC Hardware, or with software written for mobile phones.

References

http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~damithch/df/device-fragmentation.htm Operating context defined in a sidebar in this article

Classic Example

Hardware Agnostic Operating Context

References

See also