Word.ws English Dictionary

separation of concerns

separation of concerns noun: the process of separating a computer program into distinct features that overlap functionally as little as possible.

Noun

separation of concerns (uncountable)

  1. The process of separating a computer program into distinct features that overlap functionally as little as possible.
    • It is what I sometimes have called "the separation of concerns", which, even if not perfectly possible, is yet the only available technique for effective ordering of one's thoughts, that I know of. This is what I mean by "focusing one's attention upon some aspect": it does not mean ignoring the...1974, Edsger W. Dijkstra, “On the role of scientific thought”, in Selected writings on Computing: A Personal Perspective
  2. The analogous effort in any designing of processes to best delineate the concerns so as to clarify roles, avoid duplication, increase efficiency, and so on.
    • What we discover regarding legal transactions guided by rules of law and backed by fear of violence under the jurisdiction of political government, will hold true, in substance, of business transactions guided by the common rules of business and backed by fear of poverty under the jurisdiction of...1924, John R. Commons, Legal Foundations of Capitalism

separation of concerns meaning in Arabic

separation of concerns in Arabic

programming: separating a computer program into distinct features
فَصْلُ الْاِهْتِمَامَاتْ faṣlu l-ihtimāmāt

Examples of separation of concerns in a sentence

  • It is what I sometimes have called "the separation of concerns", which, even if not perfectly possible, is yet the only available technique for effective ordering of one's thoughts, that I know of.1974, Edsger W. Dijkstra, “On the role of scientific thought”, in Selected writings on Computing: A Personal Perspective:
  • As already stated, this separation of concerns is a matter of predominance and not isolation, for the fear of violence, poverty and opinion are interwoven.1924, John R. Commons, Legal Foundations of Capitalism:

Origin of separation of concerns

The earliest use in computer science is by Edsger W. Dijkstra in his 1974 paper "On the role of scientific thought". However, the term was used as early as 1924 in the field of legal economics by John R. Commons. (see quotes)

Questions about separation of concerns

What does separation of concerns mean?
Separation of concerns means the process of separating a computer program into distinct features that overlap functionally as little as possible.
What is separation of concerns in Arabic?
Separation of concerns in Arabic is فَصْلُ الْاِهْتِمَامَاتْ (faṣlu l-ihtimāmāt). See Separation of concerns meaning in Arabic.
How do you use separation of concerns in a sentence?
It is what I sometimes have called "the separation of concerns", which, even if not perfectly possible, is yet the only available technique for effective ordering of one's thoughts, that I know of.
What part of speech is separation of concerns?
Separation of concerns is a noun.

Words near separation of concerns in the dictionary

  1. separation constants
  2. Separation Creek
  3. separation energies
  4. separation energy
  5. separation from bed and board
  6. separation of concerns
  7. separation of duties
  8. separation of powers
  9. separation pay
  10. separational
  11. separationism

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: separation of concerns (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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