In science and engineering, a black box is a device, system or object which can be viewed solely in terms of its input, output and transfer characteristics without any knowledge of its internal workings, that is, its implementation is "opaque" (black). Almost anything might be referred to as a black box: a transistor, an algorithm, or the human mind.
The opposite of a black box is a system where the inner components or logic are available for inspection, which is sometimes known as a clear box, a glass box, or a white box.
Famous quotes containing the words black and/or box:
“Ladies and gents. The time has passed. The time has passed. Got to be a better way. I say to you, can’t any longer, oh no, can’t any longer, play off black against old, young against poor.
This country cannot house its houseless. Feed its foodless. They’re demanding a government of the people. Peopled by people. Our faith. Our compassion. Our courage on the gridiron. The basic
indifference that made this country great.”
—Jeremy Larner, U.S. screenwriter, and Michael Ritchie. Bill McKay (Robert Redford)
“I shall return in the dark and be seen,
Be led to my own room by well-intentioned hands,
Placed in a box with a lid whose underside is dark
So as to grow....”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)