Solution found by an iterative procedure:
      first guess x0 →  A x0 + b = r0 ≠  0
1.4
   x i   i-th approximation vector
A. xi+ b = ri , i-th residual vector
i = 0,1,2,3,......,m
ri = grad f(xi) gradient, the error in the energy norm f(xi) = ½ xi*A xi+b*xi
For solving such a system  one starts out with a first guess.
The notion of residual vector is then introduced. It gives to  a certain extent a measure for how far one is from the solution of the problem.
This initial guess is then step by step improved, which leads to a new approximation vector.