Lesson 1.6. Flowchart
In the remainder of this course, we use a graphic representation of programs called flowchart. A flowchart has several advantages:
- It represents the behavior of a program through a diagram
- It can be understood by a non-specialist
- It is standardized (ISO 5807)
- It is independent of programming languages
Each symbols of the ISO 5807 standard is presented below.
Begin, end and interruption
A box with rounded edges represents the beginning or the end of a branch of a flowchart.
Internal treatment
An internal treatment, a calculation, an elementary processing is represented by a rectangle.
Read, write, input, output
The reading or writing of an external element, for example the keyboard, the screen, an external actuator data on the network, etc is represented with a parallelogram:
Sub-program
Callig a sub-program is represented by a rectangle with doubled sides. Note that in C, subprograms do not exist, they are called functions.
Conditional branching
Conditional branches, usually called tests, are represented by a diamond. The small circle represents the negation, as on logic gates. This is the branch that is executed if the test is false:
Direction of the links
The direction of the connections must be from top to bottom. If this direction is not respected, it is necessary to arrow the link.
Example
Here is an example of a flow chart, you should normally understand how it works without difficulty:
Quiz
What is the purpose of a flowchart?
Who is a flowchart intended for?
How to represent the branch of a test that will be executed if it is false?
Should we put arrows on the links?
See also
- Learn C programming
- Lesson 1.1. History of C programming language
- Lesson 1.2. First program
- Lesson 1.3. Compilation
- Lesson 1.4. Preprocessor directives
- Lesson 1.5. Which compiler to choose?
- Lesson 2.1. Types and variables
- Lesson 2.2. Integers
- Lesson 2.3. Floating point numbers
- Lesson 2.4. Characters
- Lesson 2.5. Variables initialization
- Lesson 2.6. Ariane flight 501
- Lesson 3.1. Arithmetic operators
- Lesson 3.2. modulo
- Lesson 3.3. Operators and types
- Lesson 3.4. Type casting
- Lesson 3.5. Bitwise operators
- Lesson 3.6. Bitwise operators details
- Lesson 3.7. Shifting operators
- Lesson 3.8. Assignment operators
- Lesson 3.9. Increment and decrement operators
- Lesson 3.10. Comparison operators
- Lesson 3.11. Logical operators
- Lesson 3.12. Operator precedence
- Lesson 4.1. printf
- Lesson 4.2. scanf
- Lesson 4.3. putchar
- Lesson 5.1. Conditional branching (if...else)
- Lesson 5.2. Nested if and indentation
- Lesson 5.3. Checking intervals
- Lesson 5.4. Ternary Operator ?:
- Lesson 5.5. switch..case statement
- Lesson 5.6. Break keyword in switch..case
- Lesson 6.1. do..while loop in C
- Lesson 6.2. While loop in C
- Lesson 6.3. For loop in C
- Lesson 6.4. How to choose the right loop in C ?
- Lesson 6.5. Exercices on loops in C
- Lesson 7.1. Bit masking
- Lesson 7.2. Bit masking, how to clear a bit in C?
- Lesson 7.3. Bit masking, how to set a bit in C?
- Lesson 7.4. Bit masking, how to toggle a bit in C?
- Lesson 7.5. Bit masking, how to check a single bit in C?
- Lesson 7.6. Overview of bit masking
- Lesson 8.1. Basic syntax of C functions
- Lesson 8.2. Calling C functions
- Lesson 8.3. Void keyword
- Lesson 8.4. Return keyword
- Lesson 8.5. Variable scope
- Lesson 8.6. Global variables
- Lesson 8.7. Static variables
- Lesson 8.8. Random numbers in C
- Lesson 8.9. Mathematical functions in C
- Lesson 9.1. Syntax of C arrays
- Lesson 9.2. Array initialization
- Lesson 9.3. Multidimensional arrays
- Lesson 9.4. How C arrays are stored in memory?
- Lesson 9.5. Arrays and functions
- Lesson 9.6. Exercises on C arrays
- Lesson 10.1. Strings in C
- Lesson 10.2. Null terminated string
- Lesson 10.3. The string.h library
- Lesson 10.4. String and functions
- Lesson 11.1. Introduction to pointers in C
- Lesson 11.2. Syntax of C pointers
- Lesson 11.3. Dynamic memory allocation
- Lesson 11.4. Incrementing pointers
- Lesson 11.5. Pointers as function argument in C
- Lesson 12.1. Introduction to structures in C
- Lesson 12.2. Properties of structures in C
- Lesson 12.3. Structures and pointers
- Lesson 12.4. Structures and functions
- Lesson 13.1. Recursive functions in C
- Lesson 13.2. Depth of recursive functions
- Lesson 13.2. Mutual recursion
- Lesson 14.1. Additional exercises
