black box vs procedure

black box

noun
  • A theoretical construct or device with known input and output characteristics but unknown method of operation. 

  • A flight recorder; the brightly colored cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders in an aircraft designed to aid in determining the cause of an accident. 

  • A device used in phreaking that prevents the calling party from being billed for the call placed. 

  • A type of theater characterized by a lack of decoration or complex mechanisms. 

  • Any similar device on motor vehicles, such as rail event recorders and ship trip recorders. 

verb
  • To focus on the inputs and outputs without worrying about the internal complexity. 

procedure

noun
  • A particular method for performing a task. 

  • The steps taken in an action or other legal proceeding. 

  • A series of small tasks or steps taken to accomplish an end. 

  • A subroutine or function coded to perform a specific task, but does not return a value. 

  • A surgical operation. 

  • The set of established forms or methods of an organized body for accomplishing a certain task or tasks. 

How often have the words black box and procedure occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )