Other Definitions
process (dict)
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ProcessA process is a naturally occurring or designed sequence of operations or events, possibly taking up time, space, expertise or other resource, which produces some outcome. A process may be identified by the changes it creates in the properties of one or more objects under its influence. Compare: project. See also: process management, process theory, and . Examples A process may be categorized as singular, recurrent, or periodic. A singular process would be one which occurs only once. Few processes in nature can be considered singular. Most processes found in nature are recurrent, or repeat more than once. Recurring processes which repeat at a constant rate are considered periodic. The more periodic a process is the more useful it is as the basis of a clock. Below are a few specific examples of processes. Philosophy In philosophy and systems theory, basic processes, or logical homologies as they were termed by Ludwig von Bertalanffy, are unifying principles which operate in many different systemic contexts. For example, feedback is a principle that figures prominently in the science of cybernetics. Natural and industrial processes utilize basic processes such as feedback. There is a philosophical system known as process philosophy, created by Alfred North Whitehead; related to this is process theology. References External link Computing Computing has many concepts of process. Program execution In computing, a computer process is a running instance of a program, including all variables and other states. A multitasking operating system switches between processes to give the appearance of simultaneous execution, though in fact, in general, only one process can be executing per CPU core. Some new processors, such as Intel's Pentium 4 with Hyperthreading capability, can actually execute more than one process at a time. Software development A software development process is a sequence of steps that practitioners and managers take to create software. The steps usually include requirements analysis, programming, testing, and other steps. Different processes mix the steps together in different ways, and assign responsibility to people in different ways. The CMM is a meta-process that defines rigid goals up front, and emphasizes scientific management. Some dislike its emphasis on paperwork. Agile processes take the opposite approach, making things flexible. In SSADM a process is a part of a data flow diagram, and represents an action performed on the data. Information System Development In the context of Information System Development a process is performed to produce a product. Products - also called techniques represent what shall be constructed, e.g. class diagrams, state charts, and so on. Processes are the procedures which describe in what order the construction of the products shall be performed, e.g. at first, identify classes and objects to construct a class diagram, identify states, and so on. In Rolland1993 the term process is defined as a related set of activities conducted to the specific purpose of product definition. Both together, the set of products/techniques and their corresponding processes form a method Saeki Rolland1998. Processes of the same nature are classified together into a process model. Art See process music and Sol Lewitt. Science An outgrowth of tissue is called a process in biology and anthropology, e.g. mastoid process. See also stochastic process.
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