# separation of concerns

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. The process of separating a computer program into distinct features that overlap functionally as little as possible.
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.

## Etymology
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)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/separation-of-concerns