Flow charts : An Effective learning tool

1. Flow charts are graphical representation of any process or in other words they are graphical representation of steps we take to perform any task or  process.
2. They have a wide range of application from software development to project planning. Here we shall be focusing our discussion on Using flow charts to make programming easy.
3. Learning any programming language is a task and its nightmare for any beginner.
4. But this nightmare can be easily overcome if we start programming with flow charts.
5. We do not need to learn any programming language if logic is in its place, learning any programming language is nothing but getting familiar with its syntax, but it becomes a herculean task when we directly try our hands in coding.
6. Flow charts can be very useful in organizing logic and then it can easily be converted into a piece of code.
7. Before moving further lets see what are the building blocks of a typical flow chart.

Symbols :

This box shows the beginning and end of a flow chart

The parallelogram shows input/output

The rectangle show a process/task

The Diamond shape shows a decision area (A decision where only two options exist).

The arrows guide the flow in the flow chart

Lets start with a very simple problem, addition of two positive numbers.

Lets convert the flow chart into steps:

1. Start
2. Read A and Read B
3. Add the value of A and B and  store it into C
4. Print C
5. Stop

Now these steps can easily be converted into a program.

P.S.Though the problem discussed here is pretty easy, but drawing a flowchart before writing a code can save a lot of time and help in minimizing logical errors in the program.