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A top-down approach (also known as stepwise design) is essentially the breaking down of a system to gain insight into its compositional sub-systems. In a top-down approach an overview of the system is formulated, specifying but not detailing any first-level subsystems. Each subsystem is then refined in yet greater detail, sometimes in many additional subsystem levels, until the entire specification is reduced to base elements. A top-down model is often specified with the assistance of "black boxes", these make it easier to manipulate. However, black boxes may fail to elucidate elementary mechanisms or be detailed enough to realistically validate the model.

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Authors Keeren Payano
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Language English (en)
Related 0 subpages, 6 pages link here
Impact 322 page views
Created April 10, 2012 by Keeren Payano
Modified March 2, 2022 by Page script
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