The course can be studied with two different aims : The reader who is mainly interested in the applications of Systems Analysis will concentrate his attention on the exercises related to the Case Study (which are quoted by topic and number in the table of contents ) and will find some convenience in the numerical tables collected as appendix С .Also, for programmed computations, he will find formulae and procedures in appendices В and E.
A reader with this aim should be familiar with the basic notions of calculus, probabilities and statistics. Also, some familiarity with the available components and programming concepts is assumed.
The other view would be at the theoretical reasoning that leads to the formulae and tables. Here, the reader may gain a deeper understanding of theii applicability and a basis for further analysis of problems not discussed in this course.
The mathematical notions referenced in this context are surveyed in appendix D .
The notes are based on lectures given by the author at the IBM European Systems Research Institute in Geneva, Switzerland. My sincerest thanks go to the Institute, its direction, faculty and students, for their encouragement and critical discussions.