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A thing, such as a computer program, is described as working if an ultimate goal for that thing can be stated and that thing meets that goal.
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A thing, such as a computer program, is described as approximately working, if an ultimate goal for that thing can be stated and that thing meets a significant set of goals that comprise the ultimate goal.
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A thing, such as a computer program, is described as not working, if an ultimate goal for that thing can be stated and that thing does not meet the ultimate goal, or meets a trivially insignificant set of goals that compromise the ultimate goal.
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The method by which a goal is broken into sub-goals is formally prescribed, by an epistemological effort and by drawing on fundamental concepts of computing. The method is summarised below.