Sistemes

Sistemes is the plural of sistema in Catalan and other Romance languages, meaning systems. In general usage it refers to an organized set of elements that interact to form a complex whole with a common purpose. A system has boundaries or interfaces with its environment, and its behavior depends on the arrangement of its parts rather than on any single component. Systems may be open, exchanging matter, energy or information with their surroundings; or closed to some extent, though truly closed systems are rare in practice.

Systems are studied across disciplines as natural, artificial or social. Natural systems include ecosystems, weather, and the human body. Artificial systems include machines, software, electrical grids and transportation networks. Social systems include organizations, economic markets and legal institutions. Many systems are hierarchical, composed of subsystems and embedded in larger systems, and they exhibit properties called emergence: the whole displays behaviors not apparent from individual parts.

The study of systems is called systems theory or systems science. Related fields include systems engineering, cybernetics, control theory, and complexity science. Key ideas include feedback loops that regulate behavior, homeostasis and stability, and the notion of boundary conditions. Modeling approaches range from descriptive diagrams and mathematical equations to computer simulations.

Understanding systems supports design, analysis and decision-making. It helps identify leverage points, assess resilience, and anticipate unintended consequences. Examples include designing a city's transit system, diagnosing a biological cell, or analyzing a supply chain.