Flowchart

A diagram that represents a process or algorithm as steps and decision points connected by directional lines. Standardized shapes distinguish actions, decisions, inputs, and outputs.

Flowchart symbols: Standardized shapes used in flowcharts to represent actions, decisions, inputs, outputs, and connectors. These shapes let a flowchart distinguish process steps from decision points.
Business process modeling: The practice of representing and analyzing how work is performed within an organization. Flowcharts provide a simple visual format for documenting organizational procedures.
Frank Gilbreth: An American engineer who pioneered motion study and helped develop early process-charting methods. His work on recording work sequences helped establish the visual process-chart tradition.
Block diagram: A schematic that represents a system as labeled blocks connected by lines. Block diagrams emphasize system components and relationships, not necessarily ordered steps.
Control flow: The order in which operations or instructions are executed in a program or process. Directional lines show which step follows each other step or decision.
Algorithm: A finite, well-defined sequence of instructions for solving a problem or performing a computation. Flowcharts can show an algorithm's operations and branching logic before implementation.
Lillian Gilbreth: An American industrial engineer and psychologist who advanced scientific management and workplace design. She collaborated on early process-charting methods that influenced flowchart practice.
State diagram: A diagram showing a system's states and the transitions triggered by events or conditions. It centers on states and transitions rather than a procedure's sequence of actions.
Decision tree: A branching diagram that represents choices and their possible outcomes. Its branching structure resembles the decision paths shown in flowcharts.
Data flow diagram: A diagram showing how data moves between processes, stores, and external entities in a system. It models information movement rather than a procedure's step-by-step control flow.

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Structured program theoremRelated: Flowchart transformations make the replacement of jumps by structured control visible.