- Flow charts are graphical representation of any process or in other words they are graphical representation of steps we take to perform any task or process.
- They have a wide range of application from software development to project planning. Here we shall be focusing our discussion on Using flow charts to make programming easy.
- Learning any programming language is a task and its nightmare for any beginner.
- But this nightmare can be easily overcome if we start programming with flow charts.
- We do not need to learn any programming language if logic is in its place, learning any programming language is nothing but getting familiar with its syntax, but it becomes a herculean task when we directly try our hands in coding.
- Flow charts can be very useful in organizing logic and then it can easily be converted into a piece of code.
- Before moving further lets see what are the building blocks of a typical flow chart.
This box shows the beginning and end of a flow chart
The parallelogram shows input/output
The rectangle show a process/task
The Diamond shape shows a decision area (A decision where only two options exist).
The arrows guide the flow in the flow chart
Lets start with a very simple problem, addition of two positive numbers.
Lets convert the flow chart into steps:
- Read A and Read B
- Add the value of A and B and store it into C
- Print C
Now these steps can easily be converted into a program.
P.S.Though the problem discussed here is pretty easy, but drawing a flowchart before writing a code can save a lot of time and help in minimizing logical errors in the program.