Discrete (idea)

In mathematics, including computing science, something is discrete when it is considered as a structured collection of separate things, and the mathematics describes how they combine.

• discrete mathematics is the study of discrete systems such as graphs and algebras; it is also called combinatorics
• a discrete process consists of separate steps, that can combine in any order, possibly with repetition and concurrently; finite automata, Petri nets, process algebra, pi-calculus and many other formalisms are used to describe such processes;
• a discrete event system is another term for the same thing