In
engineering
Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
, a function is interpreted as a specific
process
A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic.
Things called a process include:
Business and management
* Business process, activities that produce a specific s ...
, action or
task that a
system
A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its open system (systems theory), environment, is described by its boundaries, str ...
is able to perform.
[R.Barker, C. Longman, Case Method: Function and Process Modelling, Addison-Wesley Professional, 1992.]
In engineering design
In the
lifecycle of engineering projects, there are usually distinguished subsequently: ''
Requirements
In engineering, a requirement is a condition that must be satisfied for the output of a work effort to be acceptable. It is an explicit, objective, clear and often quantitative description of a condition to be satisfied by a material, design, pro ...
'' and ''
Functional specification
A functional specification (also, ''functional spec'', ''specs'', ''functional specifications document (FSD)'', ''functional requirements specification'') in systems engineering and software development is a document that specifies the function ...
'' documents. The ''
Requirement
In engineering, a requirement is a condition that must be satisfied for the output of a work effort to be acceptable. It is an explicit, objective, clear and often quantitative description of a condition to be satisfied by a material, design, pro ...
s'' usually specifies the most important attributes of the requested system. In the ''Design specification'' documents, physical or software processes and systems are frequently the requested functions
In products
For advertising and marketing of technical products, the number of functions they can perform is often counted and used for promotion. For example a
calculator
An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics.
The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-si ...
capable of the basic mathematical operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, would be called a "four-function" model; when other operations are added, for example for scientific, financial, or statistical calculations, advertisers speak of "57 scientific functions", etc. A wristwatch with stopwatch and timer facilities would similarly claim a specified number of functions. To maximise the claim, trivial operations which do not significantly enhance the functionality of a product may be counted.
References
See also
*
Process
A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic.
Things called a process include:
Business and management
* Business process, activities that produce a specific s ...
*
System
A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its open system (systems theory), environment, is described by its boundaries, str ...
*
Utility
In economics, utility is a measure of a certain person's satisfaction from a certain state of the world. Over time, the term has been used with at least two meanings.
* In a normative context, utility refers to a goal or objective that we wish ...
Engineering concepts
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