Black box is a technical term for a device or system or object when it is viewed primarily in terms of its input and output characteristics. Almost anything might occasionally be referred to as a black box: a transistor, an algorithm, humans, the Internet. The term black box has a number of meanings: Black box, an object viewed in terms of its input and output characteristics. ... Black box File links The following pages link to this file: Black box ... Black box File links The following pages link to this file: Black box ... For other uses, see Transistor (disambiguation). ... In mathematics, computing, linguistics, and related disciplines, an algorithm is a finite list of well-defined instructions for accomplishing some task that, given an initial state, will terminate in a defined end-state. ... Human beings are defined variously in biological, spiritual, and cultural terms, or in combinations thereof. ...

The opposite of a black box is a system where the inner components or logic are available for inspection (such as a free software/open source program) which is sometimes known as a white box, a glass box, or a clear box. Points of view such as interactive computation may see a black box as a useful fiction. This article is about free software as used in the sociopolitical free software movement; for non-free software distributed without charge, see freeware. ... Open source software is computer software whose source code is available under a license (or arrangement such as the public domain) that permits users to study, change, and improve the software, and to redistribute it in modified or unmodified form. ... In software engineering, white box, in contrast to a black box, is a subsystem whose internals are visible to view, but usually cannot be altered. ... Interactive computation involves communication with the external world during the computation. ... // Philosophy of mathematics is the branch of philosophy that studies the philosophical assumptions, foundations, and implications of mathematics. ...

Some common uses of black boxes:

• In electronics, a sealed piece of replaceable equipment; see line-replaceable unit. (LRU)
• In computer programming and software engineering, black box testing is used to check that the output of a program is as expected, given certain inputs. The term "black box" is used because the actual program being executed is not examined.
• In computing in general, a black box program is one where the user cannot see its inner workings (perhaps because it is a closed source program) or one which has no side effects and the function of which need not be examined, a routine suitable for re-use.
• In cybernetics a black box was described by Norbert Wiener as an unknown system that was to be identified using the techniques of system identification. He saw the first step in Self-organization as being to be able to copy the output behaviour of a black box.
• In neural networking or heuristic algorithms (computer terms generally used to describe 'learning' computers or 'AI simulations') a Black Box is used to describe the constantly changing section of the program environment which cannot be tested by the programmers.
• In the stock market many people trade with "Black box" programs and algorithms designed by programmers. These programs automatically trade user’s accounts when certain technical market conditions suddenly exist (such as a SMA crossover). Some businesses on the internet specialize in coding these algorithms for TradeStation users such as Knowful.
• In physics, a black box is a system whose internal structure is unknown, or need not be considered for a particular purpose. Sometimes black box is used as a synonym for black body.
• In mathematical modelling, a limiting case.
• In philosophy and psychology, the school of behaviorism sees the human mind as a black box; see black box theory.
• In cryptography to capture the notion of knowledge obtained by an algorithm through the execution of a cryptographic protocol such as a zero-knowledge proof protocol. If the output of the algorithm when interacting with the protocol can be simulated by a simulator that interacts only the algorithm, this means that the algorithm 'cannot know' anything more than the input of the simulator. If the simulator can only interact with the algorithm in a black box way, we speak of a black box simulator.

This article is about the engineering discipline. ... A line-replaceable unit (LRU) is a black box of electronics, such as a radio or other auxiliary equipment for a complex engineered system like an airplane or ship. ... LRU can refer to: Line-replaceable unit (in aviation) Least Recently Used (in computing), see Cache algorithms Las Cruces International Airport in Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA Category: ... Computer programming (often shortened to programming or coding) is the process of writing, testing, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. ... Software engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software. ... Black box testing takes an external perspective of the test object to derive test cases. ... RAM (Random Access Memory) Look up computing in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The text below is generated by a template, which has been proposed for deletion. ... Cybernetics is the study of feedback and derived concepts such as communication and control in living organisms, machines and organisations. ... Norbert Wiener Norbert Wiener (November 26, 1894, Columbia, Missouri – March 18, 1964, Stockholm Sweden) was an American theoretical and applied mathematician. ... System identification is a general term to describe mathematical tools and algorithms that build dynamical models from measured data. ... Self-organization is a process in which the internal organization of a system, normally an open system, improves automatically without being guided or managed by an outside source. ... // See also Artificial neural network. ... For generic article about heuristics, see Heuristic. ... TradeStation is a windows-based application, designed, sold and distributed by TradeStation Securities. ... This is a discussion of a present category of science. ... As the temperature decreases, the peak of the black body radiation curve moves to lower intensities and longer wavelengths. ... A mathematical model is an abstract model that uses mathematical language to describe the behaviour of a system. ... The philosopher Socrates about to take poison hemlock as ordered by the court. ... Psychology (from Greek: ψυχή, psukhē, spirit, soul; λόγος, logos, knowledge) is both an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. ... Behaviorism (also called learning perspective) is a philosophy of psychology based on the proposition that all things which organisms do — including acting, thinking and feeling—can and should be regarded as behaviors. ... The term black box theory is used in philosophy and in science. ... The German Lorenz cipher machine, used in World War II for encryption of very high-level general staff messages Cryptography (or cryptology; derived from Greek κρυπτός kryptós hidden, and the verb γράφω gráfo write or λεγειν legein to speak) is the study of message secrecy. ... A cryptographic protocol is an abstract or concrete protocol that performs a security-related function and applies cryptographic methods. ... In cryptography, a zero-knowledge proof or zero-knowledge protocol is an interactive method for one party to prove to another that a (usually mathematical) statement is true, without revealing anything other than the veracity of the statement. ...

See also

• Black box theory
• Systems theory