Generic XAD processing model

Embodiments are directed to dynamically building software applications and dynamically updating software applications based on changed data values. In one embodiment, a computer system receives an indication that a software application is to be initiated. The computer system also receives an application description including tags describing software objects that are to be included in the software application, automatically maps portions of the application description identified by the tags to software objects using reflection, where the reflecting includes accessing properties associated with the software objects, and automatically binds properties of the software objects to the portions of the application description based declarative rules included in the software object properties associated with the software object.