Contextualization (computer science)

In computer science, contextualization is an initialization phase permitting, at instantiation time, to set or override properties having unknown or default values at the time of template creation.

Usage

Templates permit one to define generic capacities and behavior of objects, and default values for some object properties, without imposing strict limits on these properties. Contextualization is an initialization phase permitting one, on instantiation of such a template, to obtain the desired object with precisely customized properties.

Example domains

• Object-oriented programming: Contextualization consists, at object creation time, to provide adequate initialization parameters to a class constructor.
• Virtualization: Contextualization permits, at the end of VM instantiation, to set or override VM data having unknown or default values at the time of creation of the Live CD, typically hostname, IP address, .ssh/authorized_keys, ...