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2.1.1 Problem Solving and Design Sytems Subsystems Top Down Design For Priting
2.1.1 Problem Solving and Design Sytems Subsystems Top Down Design For Priting
2.1.1 Problem Solving and Design Sytems Subsystems Top Down Design For Priting
Natural Systems
E.g. ecosystems, weather, water cycle, the human body,
Abstract Systems
E.g. set of mathematical equations, computer programs,…
Designed Systems
E.g. cars, planes, buildings, freeways, telephones, the internet,…
Information Systems
Special case of designed systems - Part of the design includes the representation of the current
state of some human activity system
E.g. MIS, banking systems, databases, …
Elements of a system
• Boundary
Separates a system from its environment
Often not sharply defined
Also known as an “interface”
• Environment
Part of the world with which the system can interact
System and environment are interrelated
• Observable Interactions
How the system interacts with its environment
E.g. inputs and outputs
• Subsystems
Can decompose a system into parts
Each part is also a system
For each subsystem, the remainder of the system is its environment
Subsystems are inter-dependent
• Control Mechanism
How the behaviour of the system is regulated to allow it to endure
Often a natural mechanism
• What is a Computer System?
• Computer system is often divided up into sub-systems.
• This division can be shown using top-down design to produce
structure diagrams that demonstrate the modular construction of the
system.
• Each sub-system can be developed by a programmer as sub-routine or
an existing library routine may be already available for use.
• How each sub-routine works can be shown by using flowcharts or
pseudocodes
• When designing a computer system, it is referred to the system as a
complex problem.
• The sub-systems within a system are referred to as sub-problems.
Top-Down Design
• Top-down Design is the breaking down of a computer system into a set of sub-
systems, then breaking each sub-system down into a set of smaller sub-systems until
each sub system just performs a single action.
• The process of breaking down a system into smaller sub-systems is called as ‘stepwise
refinement’.
• It is a design method that involved taking a complex problem and break it down
into smaller sub-problems. These sub-problems can often be broken down into
even smaller sub-problems. This process is known as decomposition.
Eg1
Eg2
Eg3
Eg3
Top-Down Design – A design process where an overall task is
broken down into smaller task.
Decomposition – The process of breaking down a large task
into smaller tasks.
Main
Problem System
A B C Sub-Problems
(Sub systems)
Module – simplest
part of the system