Computational system taxonomy

Purpose

This document establishes terminological and architectural clarity about computational system types. Understanding the distinction between closed and open systems is fundamental to choosing appropriate design patterns and avoiding category errors when composing heterogeneous components.

Topics covered:

• Closed vs open systems from automata theory and process calculi
• Industry terminology mapping (batch, stream, services)
• Functional reactive programming formulations
• Essential vs accidental UI complexity
• Composition patterns for heterogeneous systems

For architectural implementation patterns, see architectural-patterns.md. For FRP foundations, see functional-reactive-programming.md. For hypermedia patterns, see hypermedia-development/00-index.md.

System classification by computational model