What term describes the ability to change one component of a system without affecting others?

The ability to change one component of a system without affecting others is best described as maintainability. Maintainability refers to how easily a system or its components can be modified to fix defects, improve performance, or adapt to a changed environment without having negative impacts on other components or overall system functionality. This characteristic is crucial in systems engineering and software development because it allows for sustained functionality while enabling updates or changes, thus ensuring the system can evolve over time without introducing unintended consequences.

In contrast, flexibility typically refers to the capability of a system to adapt to new conditions or requirements, not necessarily focusing on the independence of changes. Scalability pertains to the system's ability to handle growth or increased loads without performance degradation. Interoperability is about the ability of different systems or components to work together effectively. Each of these other concepts, while related to system modification, does not specifically capture the ability to change one component independently of others like maintainability does.