US Patent 7155719 Continuation manager

A method of processing data is provided, which includes a plurality of processes 502 to 505 equipped with dependencies 603 and a continuation manager 814, said processes 502 to 505 including a plurality of sub-processes 507. The continuation manager 814 recurrently selects (1301) each of said plurality of processes for execution in the order of their dependencies. The continuation manager further recurrently selects (1302) each of said plurality of sub-processes 507 within each of said plurality of processes 502 to 505 for execution. The output data generated at each of said selected sub-processes 507 is generated in the order of said dependencies 603.