A well-thought-out "design procedure" is considered to be the first significant step to a successful synthesizer project. In the system design of a frequency synthesizer, states Manassewitsch, there are as many "best" design procedures as there are experienced synthesizer designers. System analysis of a frequency synthesizer involves output frequency range (or frequency bandwidth or tuning range), frequency increments (or resolution or frequency tuning), frequency stability (or phase stability, compare spurious outputs), phase noise performance (e.g., spectral purity), switching time (compare settling time and rise time), and size, power consumption, and cost. James A. Crawford says that these are mutually contradictive requirements.