A-level Computing 2009/AQA/Problem Solving, Programming, Data Representation and Practical Exercise/Problem Solving/Structure charts





A Structure Chart in software engineering is a chart which shows the breakdown of a system to its lowest manageable parts. They are used in structured programming to arrange program modules into a tree. Each module is represented by a box, which contains the module's name. The tree structure visualizes the relationships between modules, showing data transfer between modules using arrows. Structured Charts are an example of a top-down design where a problem (the program) is broken into its components.

Let's take a look at a simple example of how this might be executed when representing the following code:



Create structure charts for the following code:



Selection
A selection in a Structure Chart is determined by the diamond symbol. This means a condition will be checked and depending on the result, different modules will be executed.

Iteration
Using the semi circular arrow we can represent iteration in Structure Charts. The arrow encompasses a link to a module, implying that module is executed multiple times. Let's take a look at a coded example:

Create structure charts for the following code: