1. A docking platform for network processor applications, comprising: an ingress connector for packet entry, wherein the ingress connector is not specific to an application executed on a network processor; a packet processing application (PPA) shell comprising a plurality of interfaces between the docking platform and the application, wherein the interfaces are not specific to the application, wherein the plurality of interfaces can be used to invoke a plurality of functions specific to the application; and an egress connector for packet exit, wherein the egress connector is not specific to the application.