System

=System= A brief definition of a system is ‘a set of components interconnected for a purpose’.

A slightly longer definition is 'an interconnected and interdependent set of components with coherent organisation, often characterised by nested subsystems, emergent properties, communication, and control which is dynamic, adaptive and self-preserving'.

The longer (4-part definition): 1. A system is an assembly of components connected together in an organised way. 2. The components are affected by being in the system and the behaviour of the system is changed if the components are removed or altered in some way. 3. This organised assembly of components does something. 4. This assembly as a whole has been identified by someone who is interested in it.

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This page is part of the Systems glossary which starts here