flow chart (redirected from flow diagrams)

flow chart

See flowchart.

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flow chart, sheet

a diagrammatic representation of the sequence of operations or equipment in an industrial process, computer program, etc.

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flow chart [′flō ‚chärt]

(engineering)

A graphical representation of the progress of a system for the definition, analysis, or solution of a data-processing or manufacturing problem in which symbols are used to represent operations, data or material flow, and equipment, and lines and arrows represent interrelationships among the components. Also known as control diagram; flow diagram; flow sheet.

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(programming)

flow chart - An archaic form of visual control-flow specification employing arrows and "speech balloons" of various shapes. Hackers never use flow charts, consider them extremely silly, and associate them with COBOL programmers, card wallopers, and other lower forms of life. This attitude follows from the observations that flow charts (at least from a hacker's point of view) are no easier to read than code, are less precise, and tend to fall out of sync with the code (so that they either obfuscate it rather than explaining it, or require extra maintenance effort that doesn't improve the code). See also Program Design Language.