Fragmentation is a term that occurs in several fields and describes a process of something breaking or being divided into pieces (fragments).

In Biology

Fragmentation is a form of asexual reproduction where an organism is split into fragments. See fragmentation (biology). Reproduction is the biological process by which new individual organisms are produced. ... In biology and ecology, an organism (in Greek organon = instrument) is an assembly of organs that influence each other in such a way that they function as a more or less stable whole and have properties of life. ... Fragmentation is a form of asexual reproduction where an organism is split into fragments. ...

In Computer Storage

In computer storage, there are three related uses of the term fragmentation: external fragmentation, internal fragmentation, and data fragmentation, all related to storage. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

External fragmentation

External fragmentation is the phenomenon where the free space, the space still available for use, in a piece of storage becomes divided into many small pieces. It is caused over time by allocating and deallocating ("freeing") pieces of the storage space of many different sizes. The result is that, although one may have plenty of free space, it may not be able to all used, or at least used as efficiently as one would like to.

For example, in dynamic memory allocation, a block of 1000 bytes might be requested, but the largest contiguous block of free space, or memory hole, has only 300. Even if there are ten blocks of 300 bytes of free space, separated by allocated regions, one still cannot allocate the requested block of 1000 bytes. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... In computer science, memory hole refers to a block of contiguous available memory. ...

External fragmentation also occurs in file systems as many files of different sizes are created, change size, and are deleted. The effect is even worse if a file which is divided into many small pieces is deleted, because this leaves similarly small regions of free space.

External fragmentation can be eliminated through a process called compaction, where existing objects are all moved into one large adjacent block, leaving all of the remaining free space in one large block. Moving garbage collectors use compaction to improve dynamic memory allocation performance, and tools that defragment disk drives also perform a compaction step. It is often possible to do a partial but still useful form of compaction more efficiently, or to continually compact in an incremental fashion so that external fragmentation is always kept low. Garbage collector can refer to two different things: Garbage collection (computer science): an automatic way of reclaiming unused storage; Trash collector: Person employed to remove waste from homes and businesses. ... In the context of administering computer systems, defragmentation (or defragging) is a process that eliminates fragmentation in file systems. ...

Data fragmentation

Data fragmentation occurs when a piece of data in memory is broken up into many pieces that are not close together. It is typically the result of attempting to insert a large object into storage that has already suffered external fragmentation.

For example, files in a file system are often broken up into pieces called blocks. When a disk is new, there is space to store the blocks of a file all together in one place. This allows for rapid sequential file reads and writes. However, as files are added, removed, and changed in size, the disk becomes externally fragmented, leaving only small holes in which to place new data. When a new file is written, or when an existing file is extended, the new data blocks will be scattered out across the disk, slowing access due to seek time and rotational delay of the read/write head. In computing, a file system is a method for storing and organizing computer files and the data they contain to make it easy to find and access them. ... Seek time is one of the several delays associated with reading or writing data on a computers disk drive. ... Rotational delay is a term from computing applicable to rotating storage devices (such as a typical hard disk or floppy disk drive but also the older drum memory systems). ...

As another example, if the nodes of a linked list are allocated consecutively in memory, this improves locality of reference and enhances data cache performance during traversal of the list. If the memory pool's free space has become fragmented, however, the linked list nodes will be spread throughout memory, increasing the number of cache misses. In computer science, a linked list is one of the fundamental data structures used in computer programming. ... In computer science, locality of reference, sometimes also called the principle of locality, is a concept which deals with the process of accessing a single resource multiple times. ... Diagram of a CPU memory cache A CPU cache is a cache used by the central processing unit of a computer to reduce the average time to access memory. ... This article is about the computer term. ...

Just as compaction can eliminate external fragmentation, data fragmentation can be eliminated by rearranging pieces of data so that related pieces are close together. For example, the primary job of a defragmentation tool is to rearrange blocks on disk so that the blocks of each file are contiguous and in order. Some moving garbage collectors will also move related objects close together to improve cache performance. In the context of administering computer systems, defragmentation (or defragging) is a process that eliminates fragmentation in file systems. ...

Internal fragmentation

Internal fragmentation refers to the result of reserving a piece of space without ever intending to use it. This space is wasted. While this seems foolish, it is often accepted in return for increased efficiency or simplicity.

For example, in many file systems, files always start at the beginning of a sector, because this simplifies organization and makes it easier to grow files. Any space left over between the last byte of the file and the first byte of the next sector is internal fragmentation. Similarly, a program which allocates a single byte of data is often allocated many additional bytes for metadata and alignment. This extra space is also internal fragmentation.

Another common example: Letters are often stored in 8-bit bytes even though in standard ASCII strings the 8th bit of each byte is always zero. The "wasted" bits are internal fragmentation. Jump to: navigation, search There are 95 printable ASCII characters, numbered 32 to 126. ...

Similar problems with leaving reserved resources unused appear in many other areas. For example, IP addresses can only be reserved in blocks of certain sizes, resulting in many IPs that are reserved but not actively used. This is contributing to the IPv4 address shortage. It has been suggested that Static_IP_address be merged into this article or section. ... As the number of Internet-connected devices increases, the address space of the current IPv4 version of the TCP/IP protocol suite is rapidly being consumed by allocations for new devices. ...

Unlike other types of fragmentation, internal fragmentation is difficult to reclaim; usually the best way to remove it is with a design change. For example, in dynamic memory allocation, memory pools drastically cut internal fragmentation by spreading the space overhead over a larger number of objects. Memory pools allow dynamic memory allocation comparable to malloc or the operator new in C++. As those implementations suffer from fragmentation because of variable block sizes, it can be impossible to use them in a real time system due to performance. ...

In Economics

Fragmention in economics means organization of production in which different stages of production are divided among different suppliers that are located in different countries. Now products traded between firms in different countries are components instead of final products. Final products may be sold to outside the region in which fragmentation happens (East-Asian countries often sell their final products to Europe and USA for example). Producers in less developed countries get positions of production chain that add less value to final product. Their challenge is to "climb upwards" on transnational production chain. Production chains are often vertical hierarchies in which big multinational companies may be those who sell final products and set production standards for "lesser" producers. This kind of fragmentation is an important part of contemporary globalization. Jump to: navigation, search Globalization (or globalisation) is a modern term used to describe the changes in societies and the world economy that result from dramatically increased international trade and cultural exchange. ...

In Mass Communications

In a mass communication, fragmentation is how audiences and the content of media are divided up into pieces, according to the interests of media (as business) and audiences. Mass Communication is the term used to describe the academic study of various means by which individuals and entities relay information to large segments of the population all at once through mass media. ...

In Music

In music fragmentation is the use of fragments or the "division of a musical idea (gesture, motive, theme, etc.) into segments." It is used in tonal and atonal music and is used in musical development and closure. Called liquidation by Arnold Schoenberg, it is a common musical technique used by composers including Bela Bartok. Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Music Look up Music on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikisource, as part of the 1911 Encyclopedia Wikiproject, has original text related to this article: Music Wikicities has a wiki about Music: Music MusicNovatory: the science of music encyclopedia Science of Music... Military signalmen use hand and body gestures to direct flight operations aboard aircraft carriers. ... In music, a motif is a perceivable or salient reoccurring fragment or succession of notes that may used to construct the entirety or parts of complete melodies, themes. ... In music, a theme is the initial or primary melody. ... Discretization concerns the process of transferring continuous models and equations into discrete counterparts. ... The adjective tonal can refer to: tonality in music a tonal language the opposite of Nagual, in the specific context of Carlos Castaneda, the tonal is what makes the world. ... Atonality in a general sense describes music that departs from the system of tonal hierarchies that are said to characterized the sound of classical European music from the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries. ... Musical development is the transformation and restatement of initial material, often contrasted with musical variation, with which it may be difficult to distinguish as a general process. ... Resolution in western tonal music theory is the need for a sounded note and/or chord to move from a dissonance or unstable sound to a more final or stable sounding one, a consonance. ... Liquidation, or winding up, refers to a business whose assets are converted to money in order to pay off debt. ... Arnold Schoenberg, Los Angeles, 1948 For the American music critic and journalist, see Harold Charles Schonberg. ... B la Bart k (March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945) was a composer, pianist and collector of East European folk music. ...

In Urban sociology

The absence or the underdevelopment of connections between the society and the groupings of some members of that society on the lines of a common culture, nationality, race, language, occupation, religion, income level, or other common interests. This gap between the concerned group and the rest might be social, indicating poor interrelationships among each other; economical based on structural inequalities; institutional in terms of formal and specific political, occupational, educative or associative organisations and/or geographic implying regional or residential concentration.

Sources

• Caplin, William. Classical Form: A Theory of Formal Functions, p. 10-11. Further reading
• Stein, Deborah (2005). Engaging Music: Essays in Music Analysis, "Introduction to Musical Ambiguity", p.87. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195170105.

In Weaponry

A fragmentation weapon is a high explosive designed to produce shrapnel, such as a hand grenade. The bayonet, still used in war as both knife and spearpoint. ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... Shrapnel is the collective term for fragments and debris thrown out by an exploding shell or landmine. ... A WWII-era pineapple fragmentation hand grenade A hand grenade is a hand-held bomb designed to be thrown by hand. ...

In Waste Disposal

For breaking up waste materials, see Waste management#Reduction. Jump to: navigation, search Waste management is the collection, transport, processing or disposal of waste materials, usually ones produced by human activity, in an effort to reduce their effect on human health or local amenity. ...