Lesson plan

Overhead (computing)

In computing, overhead is the consumption of computing resources for aspects that are not directly related to achieving a desired goal. Overhead is required for more general processing and impacts achieving a more focused goal. Overhead manifests as aspects such as slower processing, less memory, less storage capacity, less network bandwidth, and longer latency. Overhead can impact software design with regard to structure, error correction, and feature inclusion. Overhead in computing is a special case of engineering overhead and has the same essential meaning as in business: organizational overhead.

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Article summary

In computing, overhead is the consumption of computing resources for aspects that are not directly related to achieving a desired goal. Overhead is required for more general processing and impacts achieving a more focused goal. Overhead manifests as aspects such as slower processing, less memory, less storage capacity, less network bandwidth, and longer latency. Overhead can impact software design with regard to structure, error correction, and feature inclusion. Overhead in computing is a special case of engineering overhead and has the same essential meaning as in business: organizational overhead.

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Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.