When I think Systems, I think of Systems and Functions in Biology: How cells make up tissue, tissue makes up organs, and we are made up of organs. In my mind, I think of a factory, with different gears and machines working together to reach a specific goal. A network that works with each other cohesively to achieve the desired result. Like a government and states that make up a country, the TSA at the airport, and a school even.
Systems Thinking is a study of complexity and relationships and interactions among the components of a system. Systems Thinking is often introduced with the phrase: "The whole is more than the sum of its parts".
A system is a set of elements that function as a whole to achieve a common purpose.
A Sub System is a component of a larger system, for example, a circulatory system is a subsystem of a human system.
An element that is necessary, but not a self-sufficient component of a system, but the system cannot achieve its purpose without the element and the element by itself cannot replicate the system's function.
Systems as part of Computer Science:
- Poorly documented code is difficult to maintain: If it is not documented, it is difficult for you and anyone else to understand your code at all
- The Spaghetti Code: Very hard to understand, even for the original coder, with jumps and goto statements
- Very hard to develop by more than one person as there is one big file
- Very hard to debug a file, either it works or it doesn't
