4. Processing

Processing is the stage where the input data is manipulated in order to produce meaningful information.

Processing can include a number of stages such as sorting, searching, calculations, graphing.

The results obtained from processing the data can then be used in the next stage, called "output".

Some examples of processing could include:

- searching sales data to find which products in a supermarket have sold the most

- sorting a list of customer data into alphabetical order

- after a barcode has been scanned (input), retrieving the price of the item from the supermarket database and using this data to calculate the customer's bill