Process

Table of contents 1 Definition 2 Additional information 3 External Link 4 References

Definition

A Process is a naturally occurring or designed sequence of operations which produce some outcome.

Compare: project. See also: process management.

Additional information

For example the Bessemer process is a way of producing steel. The process of mining extracts ore. Evolution is a natural process as would be the creation of the universe by God.

Basic processes or logical homologies as they were termed by Ludwig von Bertalanffy in General System Theory are unifying principles which operate in many different systemic contexts. For example, feedback, the principle which figures prominantly in the science of cybernetics. Natural and industrial processes utilize basic processes such as feedback.

In computing, a process is a running instance of a program, including all variables and other state, see computer process. A multitasking operating system switches between processes to give the appearance of simultaneous execution, though in fact only one process can be executing at once per CPU core.

References

• von Bertalanffy, Ludwig, General System Theory, George Braziller, New York, 1968, pages 84,85 ISBN 0807604534