Computing environment

A computational environment is a collection of objects involved in calculations, each time a definition of what is considered an object and what is meant by calculations is required, that is, the interpretation of these terms depends on the context of use. So, for example, in software engineering, a computing environment is understood as a combination of software components and services that are integrated within a single application (that implements a certain process in a specific subject area). The term is sometimes also understood in a narrower sense — as an application intended for the (mathematical) modeling of various objects and phenomena and their subsequent (models or modeling objects) research. In the latter case, Mathcad , Mathematica are among the well-known examples. The computing environment is also sometimes understood as hardware, and in the broadest sense, the combination of software and hardware for implementing a particular computing concept (and, in fact, for implementing a specific computing model ).

In the mathematical context and the context of theoretical computer sciences, the use of this term is based on the assumption that there is some formal theory that defines both what is an object and how and what calculations are performed on these objects. Such a theory should, firstly, postulate a certain class of objects, or terms, and secondly, the equivalence relation between them (the so-called equational system ). Then, by calculations we mean equivalent transformations of objects. An example of such a system is the λ-calculus .