Making systems - III: Systems

III Systems

9 Purpose
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Why purpose matters
9.3 Explicit purpose
9.4 Implicit purpose
9.5 Objectives and constraints
9.6 Using purpose
10 System scope
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Why scope and boundary matter
10.3 Content
10.4 Using scope and boundary
11 Component parts
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Definition of component
11.3 Divide and conquer: the component breakdown structure
11.4 Component characteristics
11.5 Downsides
11.6 Why components matter
12 Structure and emergence
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Definition
12.3 Abstraction
12.4 Emergent system properties
12.5 Working with structure
13 System views
13.1 Introduction
13.2 Technical views
13.3 Non-technical uses
14 Evidence of meeting purpose
14.1 Introduction
14.2 Verification versus validation
14.3 When to evaluate a system
14.4 Kinds of evidence
14.5 Methods of gathering evidence
14.6 Completeness and minimality
15 Synthesis
15.1 Introduction
15.2 Structure of artifacts
15.3 Exploration and development
15.4 Views
15.5 Relation to making a system

A detailed model of what systems are. This includes

The system’s purpose;
The components that make up the system;
How structured relations between components lead to emergent properties;
How subset views of the system can help understand the system’s content; and
How evidence can show whether the system does or does not meet its purpose.

The system artifact graph is a synthesis of the parts of this model, realizing the information in the model in concrete artifacts that are created and manipulated in making the system.