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Does anyone still use flow charts to plan code? I do and have been using clunky legacy software. Any recommendations for best of breed (preferably near to free)?
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I haven't for many years. I prefer pseudo code.
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
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Nope.
I don't know what happened to the DOS-based flow chart program I used around 1990 and I'm unsure where my templates are.
I do occasionally use Word for simple diagrams.
Edit: I think this is the software, but I can't find the disks and documentation.
As I recall, the documentation had a fairly interesting index style.
Interactive EasyFlow - Wikipedia[^]
modified 11-Mar-19 20:18pm.
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I do, but I draw them on paper. I haven't found anything that doesn't take too much effort to use that it distracts me from the logic I'm trying to build.
After I've wrapped my own head around the problem I usually just throw them away, but occasionally if some snipped of the flowchart needs to go into documentation (which noone reads anyway) then I'll use GraphViz[^]. It's got a pretty steep learning curve since it's effectively just a declarative programming language, but I feel like it's less time consuming than Visio.
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Thanks, I'll take a look at GraphViz. Pencil and paper sounds good too. And maybe start using pseudocode to see if it feels natural.
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Try Dia[^], for flow charts and so much more!
I'm currently unsupervised, I know it freaks me out too!
JaxCoder.com
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I did... I think I like it...
__________________
Lord, grant me the serenity to accept that there are some things I just can’t keep up with, the determination to keep up with the things I must keep up with, and the wisdom to find a good RSS feed from someone who keeps up with what I’d like to, but just don’t have the damn bandwidth to handle right now.
© 2009, Rex Hammock
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Maybe for High Level architecture as a means to explane to the non-technical persons what we're aiming to achieve, but not for low level code.
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I never plan code. 
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For complex processes it does help me to visualize the steps. I use Visio basic flowchart shapes.
Social Media - A platform that makes it easier for the crazies to find each other.
Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it.
Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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Not generally to plan code, but I use Visutin Visustin - Flow chart generator to create after-built flow charts. It handles (I think) about 40 different languages from COBOL to Assembly and has some very nice printing to Visio style files and a few other things. You can get a trial version that works for smaller code bases.
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, navigate a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects! - Lazarus Long
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Downloaded the demo and love it, but just a bit expensive for my casual use. Thanks.
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Visio - it's the way of the future!
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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Very basic, but sometimes I use Google Drawings on Google Drive.
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Not flow charts, but I now and then resort to good old data modelling techniques. Many years ago we certainly did enlighten a few customers by constructing Entity-Relationship models of the information flowing in their organization, illustrating how each of their operations related to (and modified) related data. What ofte comes clearly out of an ER model are issues about duplication of information: Where is the authoritative copy located in the model; which are non-authoritative duplicates - I guess this is where we most frequently had people really start rethinking their information handling.
Nowadays, with software developers opening an editor and typing "int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {" before they make eye contact with the customer to ask what to put in before the closing brace, "Now, what was your problem?" ... (this is known as "agile" development: Starting to code before you have any clue about what the problem is), I have to be careful with data modeling: I do it only on a whiteboard or on a sheet of paper. If I do it in a file or document, I immediately am drowned by a tsunami of "Waterfall!!!" accusations.
In modern design, you are supposed to make an intial "design" (read: main() function) with no understanding whatsoever of the problem at hand. If you later realize that your "design" is poorly fit to solve the problem, you can refer to "need for refactoring" or "legacy issues" or something like that. All of them are euphemisms for "poor planning". (One of my university systems engineering books had a list of "Factors that may delay your project": Every second bullet point was "Poor planning". But that was before the agile days.)
If you manage to sneak into the customer negotiations before the contract is signed, e.g. before the agile guys get a chance to enter their first "int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {" in their IDEs, you may succeed in helping the customer understand what to ask for in the contract. Once the contract is signed and the agile process is started, the battle is lost: Refactoring is far too resource demanding right now. And next month. And the month after that. And ...
Planning, whether by flowcharts or data modeling ER diagrams, is by definition waterfall, and waterfall is evil. Every up to date developer knows that, and detests either techniqueue.
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Yeah, I still do. I am "old school" and drawing the flow chart helps me visualize the flow of the logic, especially when I have multiple threads. Yep, I use pencil and paper, too. 
I stuff the flowchart into the file folder and when it comes to maintenance or enhancement, it reminds what I was thinking when I wrote the program. At my age, I guarantee that I will not remember the original design.
__________________
Lord, grant me the serenity to accept that there are some things I just can’t keep up with, the determination to keep up with the things I must keep up with, and the wisdom to find a good RSS feed from someone who keeps up with what I’d like to, but just don’t have the damn bandwidth to handle right now.
© 2009, Rex Hammock
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Now that I'm getting older my doctor says I need install a bar in the shower.
I've picked out the liquors that I want to put in there but my question is what do I need to do to run a mixer line through the wall?
I'm currently unsupervised, I know it freaks me out too!
JaxCoder.com
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Depends. Dry-, Brick-, Wood-, or Stone-wall?
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Stone, now you've got me wondering if I could put a pizza oven in there too?
I'm currently unsupervised, I know it freaks me out too!
JaxCoder.com
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/ravi
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If you have a Jewish doctor he probably meant a Bar Mitzvah 
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I found that ice simply doesn't last very long in a hot shower. Insulation in the cooler that holds the ice is the key. And oh yeah, transfer all the booze into large plastic shampoo bottles. Glass is really slippery when it's wet, and you don't want to be dancing around trying to avoid stepping on glass when you drop a bottle.
Final bit of advice - do NOT post selfie pics of your shower bar on instagram during actual use.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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