Flowcharts

Avi Bhattacharya, August 18, 2020

A flowchart is a diagrammatic/graphic representation of an algorithm/pseudocode i.e. a step-by-step approach to solving a task.

There are 4 shapes in a flowchart:

1. Oval- represents the start and end of a flowchart
   
   
   
   
   
2. Rectangle- represents any step/procedure in the diagram
   
   
   
   
   
3. Diamond- represents any decisions which have to be held. Different decisions may lead to different outcomes.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Parallelogram- represents input or output
   
   
   
   
   

Example 1:

In the example above, the first thing we would do is input 2 variables- income and cost. This just means that we need to plug in 2 values for them (if not provided) and then continue to the next box. “Income >= Cost?” means we have to compare the income and the cost and make a decision. If income is >= cost then we need to go to the box on the right and do income-cost to find and print profit. If income is not >= cost then we continue to the box below then. In that case, we will do cost- income to find and print loss.

The table would look like this for 2 different scenarios:

Example 2:

Explanation:

‘Count’ and ‘total’ are variables in the flowchart above. This means their values can be changed throughout the flowchart. Their initial values are 0 each but when the first x is input, the total becomes total + x. This means 0+4= 4 and count is also increased by one. 0+ 1=1. After this we check if count=5. Since 1 does not equal to 5, you follow the no arrow and input the second x provided (which is 5). After making x as 5, you follow the arrow and make total= total + x. Since the value of total is now 4, the total is 9 (4+5) and the count becomes 2. You repeat this process until count= 5. Once count=5, you write the current value of total (when count=5), which in this case is 24 and hence 24 is printed in the output column.

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