Robustness

Robustness is the quality of being able to withstand stresses, pressures, or changes in procedure or circumstance. A system, organism or design may be said to be "robust" if it is capable of coping well with variations (sometimes unpredictable variations) in its operating environment with minimal damage, alteration or loss of functionality.

Other studies

Biology

Genetics

Mutational robustness describes the extent to which an organism's phenotype remains constant in spite of mutation.

Morphology

In biology 'Robust" is used to describe species with a Morphology based on strength and heavy build, the alternative morphology is the 'gracile' body type. For example comparing similar species, rats have robust body types whilst mice are gracile, other such pairs include the leopard and cheetah. Male and females of the same species, may display sexual dimorphism and have robust and gracile morphologies.

Computer Science

An algorithm in computer science is robust if it continues to operate despite abnormalities in input, calculations, etc. Formal techniques, such as fuzz testing, are essential to proving robustness since this type of testing involves invalid or unexpected inputs. Various commercial products, including the Mu Dynamics Service Analyzer, perform robustness testing of software systems.

Statistics

A robust statistical technique is one that performs well even if its assumptions are somewhat violated by the true model from which the data were generated.

Economics

In economics, "robustness" defines the ability of a financial trading system to remain effective under different markets and different market conditions.

Decision making

A robust decision is a decision that is as immune to uncertainty as is possible and looks good to all constituents long after it is made.

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