The present invention utilizes a topology application programming interface (API) to provide relation information describing processor and platform topology to an executable program via a standardized interface. By providing topology information, the topology API allows the program to optimize its performance based upon the information without having to be explicitly aware of the actual platform architecture. The present invention also provides an expandable topology API that allows for future expansion of information type, without altering the standardized interface. In another instance of the present invention, the topology API collects, processes, and provides topology information about an underlying hardware architecture.