Flow-based programming
Flow-based programming (FBP) is a programming paradigm that defines applications as networks of "black box" processes, which exchange data across predefined connections. These black box processes can be reconnected endlessly to form different applications without having to be changed internally. It is thus naturally component-oriented.
When using FBP, the application developer works with flows of data that are processed asynchronously, rather than the conventional single hierarchy of sequential, procedural code.
References
"Flow-Based Programming", van Nostrand Reinhold, 1994, ISBN 0-442-01771-5