The Collaborative International Dictionary
Extensibility \Ex*ten`si*bil"i*ty\, n. The quality of being extensible; the capacity of being extended; as, the extensibility of a fiber, or of a plate of metal.
Wiktionary
n. 1 The capability of being extended 2 (context computing English) A quality of design that takes possible future advances into consideration and attempts to accommodate them
Wikipedia
In software engineering, extensibility (not to be confused with forward compatibility) is a systems design principle where the implementation takes future growth into consideration. It is a systemic measure of the ability to extend a system and the level of effort required to implement the extension. Extensions can be through the addition of new functionality or through modification of existing functionality. The central theme is to provide for change – typically enhancements – while minimizing impact to existing system functions.
Extensibility is a software design principle defined as a system’s ability to have new functionality extended, in which the system’s internal structure and data flow are minimally or not affected, particularly that recompiling or changing the original source code is unnecessary when changing a system’s behavior, either by the creator or other programmers. Because software systems are long lived and will be modified for new features and added functionalities demanded by users, extensibility enables developers to expand or add to the software’s capabilities and facilitates systematic reuse. Some of its approaches include facilities for allowing users’ own program routines to be inserted and the abilities to define new data types as well as to define new formatting markup tags.
Usage examples of "extensibility".
As the movements caused by the alternate turgescence of the cells in the two halves of a pulvinus, must be largely determined by the extensibility and subsequent contraction of their walls, we can perhaps understand why a large number of small cells will be more efficient than a small number of large cells occupying the same space.
The proper tone possesses eight qualities: clarity, wonder, remoteness, sadness, eloquence, manliness, softness, and extensibility, but the tone will suffer under any of six conditions: bitter cold, extreme heat, strong wind, heavy storm, noisy thunder, or swirling snow, and the Wen-Wu lute must never be played under any of seven circumstances: mourning the dead, simultaneous playing with orchestra, preoccupation with worldly matters, uncleanliness of body, untidiness of costume, failure to burn incense in advance, and lack of an appreciative audience.
Wiesner denies in certain cases the accuracy of De Vries' conclusion about turgescence, and maintains*** that the increased extensibility of the cellwalls is the more important element.
That such extensibility must accompany increased turgescence in order that the part may bend is manifest, and this has been insisted on by several botanists.