Relational definitions of “components, systems, and interfaces”
In careful usage, the notions of component, system, and interface should all be understood together and in terms of one another. A component is a relatively independent and self-contained portion of a system in the sense that it relevantly interacts with other components only through interfaces between them (and contains no internal interfaces at the same level). An interface is a point of interactive “contact” between components such that the relevant interactions are well-defined, reliable, and relatively simple. A system is a relatively independent and self-contained composite of components interacting at interfaces. So the pre-amp mentioned above would be both a component and a system; such a component system is often called a subsystem. Though these concepts are all defined in terms of one another, they are not therefore circular or empty, because they collectively involve the further notions of relative independence, simplicity, relevance, and interaction.
—Haugeland, J., 2000: Mind Embodied and Embedded, p. 7. Chapter 9 in Haugeland, J., 2000: Having Thought: Essays in the Metaphysics of Mind. Harvard University Press.
author:haugeland-john book:haugeland-having-thought paper:haugeland-mind-embodied-and-embedded snip:defining-components-systems-interfaces component system interface definition relation list:mind-body-world
