Flowchart

Why Trust Techopedia

What Does Flowchart Mean?

A flow chart is a type of diagram representing a process using different symbols containing information about steps or a sequence of events. Each of these symbols is linked with arrows to illustrate the flow direction of the process.

Advertisements

Techopedia Explains Flowchart

Flowcharts are a methodology used to analyze, improve, document and manage a process or program. Flowcharts are helpful for:

  1. Aiding understanding of relationships among different process steps
  2. Collecting data about a particular process
  3. Helping with decision making
  4. Measuring the performance of a process
  5. Depicting the structure of a process
  6. Tracking the process flow
  7. Highlighting important steps and eliminating the unnecessary steps

A flowchart in computer science typically has the following types of symbols to represent a process or program:

  1. Oval/Rounded Rectangle/Circle: Represents any process having a start and an end activity.
  2. Rectangles: Represents a process activity or step.
  3. Diamonds: Used when there is a decision to be made or a question to be answered, such as Yes/No or True/False. The path to be taken is determined by the answer to the question.
  4. Arrow lines: Used to show the flow of control from one step to the other. They also indicate progress from one step to another.
  5. Parallelograms: Used to represent input/output.

Flowcharts are commonly used in developing business plans, designing algorithms and determining troubleshooting steps. Many software programs are available to design flowcharts. Some of the commonly used software programs are SmartDraw, Visio (designed for PCs) and OmniGraffle (designed for Macs).

Advertisements

Related Terms

Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.