# Function (engineering)

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In [engineering](/source/engineering), a '''function''' is interpreted as a specific [process](/source/process_(engineering)), action or [task](/source/Task_analysis) that a [system](/source/system) is able to perform.<ref>R.Barker, C. Longman, Case Method: Function and Process Modelling, Addison-Wesley Professional, 1992.</ref>

==In engineering design==

In the [lifecycle](/source/enterprise_life_cycle) of engineering projects, there are usually distinguished subsequently: ''[Requirements](/source/Requirements)'' and ''[Functional specification](/source/Functional_specification)'' documents. The ''[Requirement](/source/Requirement)s'' usually specifies the most important attributes of the requested system. In the ''Design specification'' documents, physical or software processes and systems are frequently the requested functions

==In products==
For advertising and marketing of technical products, the number of functions they can perform is often counted and used for promotion. For example a [calculator](/source/calculator) capable of the basic mathematical operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, would be called a "four-function" model; when other operations are added, for example for scientific, financial, or statistical calculations, advertisers speak of "57 scientific functions", etc. A wristwatch with stopwatch and timer facilities would similarly claim a specified number of functions. To maximise the claim, trivial operations which do not significantly enhance the functionality of a product may be counted.

==References==
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==See also==
* [Process](/source/process_(engineering))
* [System](/source/System)
* [Utility](/source/Utility)

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Category:Engineering concepts

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Function (engineering)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Function_(engineering)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Function_(engineering)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.