System

System (Latin systēma) is a group of related things that work together as a whole. These things can be real or imaginary. Systems can be man-made things like a car engine or natural things like a star system. Systems can also be concepts made by people to organize ideas.

A subsystem is a system that is part of some larger system. For example, in computer networking, a disk subsystem is a part of a computer system.

Definition

• A system is a group of things that connect and form some kind of coherent whole.

What systems do

Systems are a way to describe a set of items, or people, or things that are related. Most systems describe ways of making them work together, or why they work together already. Some systems are nothing more than a different way of looking at a problem, or thinking about a job being done.

Other systems are more like organizing books on a shelf, so that people can find things more simply, without having to search. These can be systems about how to program computers or manage people.

Example

The Solar System is a great example of a system. The Solar System is made up of the Sun and the 8 planets, as well as the moons of those planets. The related "things," or plants, work together as a whole to form a full planetary system.

Types of systems

There are many kinds of systems. A system can refer to:

• Systems in a person's body, such as digestive system, nervous system, and so on. These systems operate so as to keep the body's physiology going within limits.
• Computer systems, like systems of counting or finding things
• Systems in planning, like deciding how a bridge should be made
• Systems in social science, like the way humans talk, think, and feel
• Systems in management and business, such as ideas about parts of companies
• Systems of life, such as life cycle, carbon cycle, ecosystem, or visual system
• Systems in science, such as the solar system
• Systems of symbols such as writing system or number system

Related pages

• Systems theory
• Systems science
• Cybernetics

References

Portions of content adapted from Wikipedia's article on System which is released under the CC BY-SA 3.0.