Now that we have a clear understanding of the building blocks of programming, it’s time to use a tool to express those ideas. Flowcharts help us to do exactly that! Flowcharts are used in many professions and different symbols can have a different meaning depending on the context.
Flowcharts will help us to better plan our programs from a high-level or a low-level implementation, detail of an algorithm, workflow, or a process. This is a vital tool for any programmer. Not only will it help you better understand the problem and solution that you have, but it will also help you document and communicate it to other team members. You will be a much happier programmer once the life cycle of your project comes to an end and you have a flow chart explaining exactly what your program is doing.
What exactly are flowcharts? Even though you might not know it, we use flow charts in our day to day lives, from traffic stops to workflows in a factory. The main parts of flow charts are a set of shapes (rectangles, parallelograms, rhombuses, etc) that are connected by a set of arrows. We will be using the following shapes and definitions to model our programs:
I always had a passion for the field of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and I knew I wanted to do something to make a difference in the world. I just didn’t know where to start. I was an immigrant in a new country, grew up in a tough environment, and wasn’t sure how… Read More
