����ý

A flowchart is a diagram that shows an overview of a program. Flowcharts normally use standard symbols to represent the different types of instructions. These symbols are used to construct the flowchart and show the step-by-step solution to the problem. Flowcharts are sometimes known as flow diagrams.

Common flowchart symbols

Flowcharts can be used to plan out programs. This simple flowchart maps out an algorithm for a program that prints the numbers 1 to 10:

Advantages and disadvantages of using flowcharts

Designing an algorithm using a flowchart has advantages because:

• it is easy to see how a program flows
• flowcharts follow an international standard - it is easy for any flowchart user to pick up a diagram and understand it

Flowcharts also have their disadvantages:

• with a large program, the diagrams can become huge and therefore difficult to follow
• any changes to the design may mean a lot of the diagram has to be redrawn