A top–down approach (also known as stepwise design and stepwise refinement and in some cases used as a synonym of decomposition) is essentially the breaking down of a system to gain insight into its compositional subsystems in a reverse engineering fashion. In a top–down approach an overview of the system is formulated, specifying, but not detailing, any first-level subsystems. Each subsystem is then refined in yet greater detail, sometimes in many additional subsystem levels, until the entire specification is reduced to base elements. A top–down model is often specified with the assistance of black boxes, which makes it easier to manipulate. However, black boxes may fail to clarify elementary mechanisms or be detailed enough to realistically validate the model. A top–down approach starts with the big picture, then breaks down into smaller segments.
A top–down approach (also known as stepwise design and stepwise refinement and in some cases used as a synonym of decomposition) is essentially the breaking down of a system to gain insight into its compositional subsystems in a reverse engineering fashion In a top–down approach an overview of the system is formulated specifying but not detailing any first-level subsystems Each subsystem is then refined in yet greater detail sometimes in many additional subsystem levels until the entire specification is reduced to base elements A top–down model is often specified with the assistance of black boxes which makes it easier to manipulate However black boxes may fail to clarify elementary mechanisms or be detailed enough to realistically validate the model A top–down approach starts with the big picture then breaks down into smaller segments