A network switching system includes a storage device including a plurality of application-provided flow-based rules provided by a plurality of applications. A packet processor is coupled to the storage device and includes a flow-based handler that is operable to receive a packet, determine that the packet is associated with a flow session, and associate a plurality of the application-provided flow-based rules with the packet based the association of the packet with the flow session. The packet processor also includes a flow-based rule processing engine that is operable to determine a priority for the plurality of application-provided flow-based rules and apply at least one of the plurality of application-provided flow-based rules to the packet according to the priority. The system allows a plurality of SDN applications to operate in a network switching system independently and without knowledge of each other.