Main About Download Documentation Resources

Data Types

Integer Data Type

The Integer data type is one of the most commonly used types in programming. An integer can store a positive or negative
whole number, but can't store fractional values. So, it can store values such as 5, 42, 1947, but can't store numbers such as
3.2, 4.5, etc...

If a number with a fractional value is stored into a integer, the fractional value will be discarded. Hence, if 3.2 is stored into
an integer, it will only retain 3.

The Variable Watch Window displays integers in blue.

Real Data Type

The Real data type can store any number - both whole numbers and ones with fractional values. In many languages, this is
called a "double" after the implementation standard known as "double-precision floating point".

The Variable Watch Window displays reals in purple.

String Data Type

The String data type is used to store any textual data. This includes words, letters, or anything else you would send in a text
message. In programming, the text is delimited with double quotes. For example: "CSU, Sacramento", "computer", and
"Year 1947" are all strings.

The Variable Watch Window displays strings in red.

Boolean Data Type

Flowgorithm - Documentation 1 1
 The Boolean Data Type can store either "true" or "false". These are the basis of decision making in a computer program.

The Variable Watch Window displays Booleans in teal.

Summary Chart

Data Type Notes

Boolean Stores either Boolean true or false

Real Stores a real number.

Integer Stores an integer number.

String Stores textual data.

Flowgorithm - Documentation 1 2
 Main About Download Documentation Resources

Identifiers

Any time you define a function or variable, it is given a unique name called an "identifier". To prevent identifiers from being confused with other items in an
expression, they must follow a naming convention. Every programming language has one and it is fairly consistent from language to language.

In Flowgorithm, identifiers must adhere to the following rules:

They must start with a letter.

After the first letter, the identifier can contain additional letters or numbers.
Spaces are not allowed.
They cannot be reserved words or words already defined by Flowgorithm (please see below)
Also note:

Languages such as Visual Basic and C also allow the underscore character "_". Flowgorithm, however, does not allow it.
Identifiers are not case-sensitive.
The following are some simple example identifiers.

Valid Identifiers Notes

x Identifiers can be single letter.

name

noun2 Numbers are allowed after the first letter

Keywords

Overview

Flowgorithm - Documentation 2 3
 Many words using in programming languages overlap the naming convention used by identifiers. In these cases, the word is "reserved" and cannot be used for
Identifiers. In addition, many programming languages predefine functions and other constants. These also cannot be used.

Reserved Words
Flowgorithm only has a few reserved words that are used in expressions.

and not true

false or

mod pi

Data Type Keywords

To prevent confusion, the system also prevents identifiers from using the data type names.

boolean real

integer string

Illegal Keywords (used in functions)

Flowgorithm does not permit the names of intrinsic functions to be used.

abs int sin tofixed

arccos len size tointeger

arcsin log sqrt tostring

arctan log10 tan toreal

char random tochar

cos sgn tocode

Flowgorithm - Documentation 2 4
 Reserved for Future Use

Future versions of Flowgorithm will expand the number of intrinsic functions. The following were reserved if they are included.

arccosh cosh

arcsinh sinh

arctanh tanh

Flowgorithm - Documentation 2 5
 Main About Download Documentation Resources

Operators

About
Expressions combine operators used in the two major families of programming languages. The "BASIC-family" contains English keywords and operators. The "C-
family" (which includes C, Java, C#) is far more symbolic.

Since both families are supported, there are a number of redundant operators. These are:

Operator C Family BASIC Family

Negation ! not

Modulo % mod

Equality == =

Inequality != <>

Logical And && and

Logical Or || or

Flowgorithm also adds a few unique Visual Basic operators since if they have helpful, clearly defined, semantics

Visual Basic Operator Name

& String Concatenation

^ Exponent

In Java and C#, the "+" operator is used for both string concatenation and addition. This can be quite confusing given the rather complex semantics. In Flowgorithm,
addition will only work with numbers. The ampersand "&" is used for concatenation.

Flowgorithm - Documentation 3 6
 Also, C# and Java lack an exponent operator - instead relying their respective Math classes. Flowgorithm uses the Visual Basic "^".

Precedence
The following are the precedence levels from high (evaluated first) to low.

Level Name Operators Notes

8 Unary - ! not In Visual Basic, "not" precedence level is far lower - above "and", but below all relational operators.

7 Exponent ^ The exponent operator does not exist in C# or Java.

6 Multiply * / % mod Division will always be high-precision (floating point)

5 Addition + - "+" will only work with numbers.

4 Concatenate & C# and Java use the ambiguous "+" operator for addition and concatenation.

3 Relational > >= < <=

== = != <>

2 Logical And and &&

1 Logical Or or ||

Examples

Expression Result Notes

1 + 3 ^ 2 10

10 * 2 + 5 * 6 50 10 * 2 and 5 * 6 have higher precedence than addition. The addition is done last.

7 * (4 - 1) 21 Parenthesis are used for subexpressions, which are evaluated as a whole.

6 / 3 * 2 4 In mathematics, multiplication and division have the same precedence levels. So, they are evaluated left-to-right. The
"PEMDAS" acronym, used in high-school, is a tad misleading.

10 mod 3 1 Modulo math gives the remainder from division

10 % 3 1 Same expression, but using the C-Family operator

Flowgorithm - Documentation 3 7
 Main About Download Documentation Resources

Intrinsic Functions

Mathematics

Function Description Version Added

Abs(n) Absolute Value

Arcsin(n) Trigonometric Arcsine 1.7

Arccos(n) Trigonometric Arccos 1.7

Arctan(n) Trigonometric Arctangent

Cos(n) Trigonometric Cosine

Int(n) Integer of a real number

Log(n) Natural Log

Log10(n) Log Base 10

Sgn(n) Mathematical sign (-1 if n is negative, 0 if zero, 1 if positive)

Sin(n) Trigonometric Sine

Sqrt(n) Square Root

Tan(n) Trigonometric Tangent

Strings

Flowgorithm - Documentation 4 8
 Function Description

Len(s) Length of a string

Char(s, i) Returns a character from the string s at index i. Characters are indexed starting at 0.

Data Type Conversion

Function Description Version Added

ToChar(n) Convert a character code n into an character 1.5

ToCode(c) Convert a character c into a character code (integer). 1.8

ToFixed(r, i) Convert real number r to a string with i digits after the decimal point. 1.8

ToInteger(n) Convert a string to an integer

ToReal(n) Convert a string to an real

ToString(n) Convert a number to a string

Other

Function Description Version Added

Random(n) A random number between 0 and (n - 1)

Size(a) The size (number of elements) in an array 1.7

Flowgorithm - Documentation 4 9
 Main About Download Documentation Resources

Built-in Constants

Flowgorithm predefines three commonly used constants. True and False are often used to initialize Boolean variables. Pi is commonly used in mathematics.

Constant Notes

true Boolean True

false Boolean False

pi Mathematical PI. Approximately 3.1415.

Flowgorithm - Documentation 5 10
 Main About Download Documentation Resources

Basic File Format

Most applications save data in a complex binary file where the contents are seldom published. Often this does make sense given that the data is complex and
techniques, such as compression, are used to minimalize the file size.

Programs in Flowgorithm are quite simple. There is no large data elements that need compression nor are there different types of data to be stored. It's a simple
program - just like anything written in Java, C#, etc... So, rather than having complex binary files, files will be easy to read and port to other systems. The idea is that
programs "written" using this application can be easily used by third-party tools. To accomplish this, files will be stored in simple XML.

Example

Given the following program...

Flowgorithm - Documentation 6 11
 The program will be saved using the following format:

Sample File

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<flowgorithm fileversion="2.0">
<attributes>
<attribute name="name" value="Age"/>
<attribute name="authors" value="Devin Cook"/>
<attribute name="about" value="A simple example of an If Statement">
<attribute name="saved" value="1/7/2015 11:27:10 PM"/>
</attributes>
<function name="Main" type="None" variable="">
<parameters/>
<body>
<declare name="age" type="Integer" array="False" size=""/>
<output expression="&quot;Please enter your age&quot;"/>
Flowgorithm - Documentation 6 12
 <input variable="age"/>
<if expression="age &gt;= 21">
<then>
<output expression="&quot;Kegger!&quot;"/>
</then>
<else>
<output expression="&quot;Milk!&quot;"/>
</else>
</if>
</body>
</function>
</flowgorithm>

Flowgorithm - Documentation 6 13
 Main About Download Documentation Resources

Assignment Shape

Default Appearance

What it Does
The Assignment shape is used to store the result of a calculation into a variable. This is one of the most common tasks found
in programs.

Example
The example, to the right, declares two variables: area (which stores real numbers) and radius (which stores integers). It
then uses an Assignment Statement to set the 'radius' to 7. Finally, it computes the area of a circle and stores the result in
'area'.

Flowgorithm - Documentation 7 14
 Main About Download Documentation Resources

Breakpoint Shape

Default Appearance

What it Does
The Breakpoint Shape temporality halt the execution of the program. This is useful both for debugging programs and for
demonstrations. Most professional software development applications have some form of the breakpoint.

Example

The example, to the right, creates a variable called 'value' and assigns it an initial value of 12. The program then encounters a
breakpoint shape - which still halt execution.

This will allow the user to see the current value of 'n' in the Variable Watch Window. Once execution is continued, the second
assignment shape is executed.

Flowgorithm - Documentation 8 15
 Main About Download Documentation Resources

Call Shape

Default Appearance

What it Does
A Call Statement transfers control to a function. Information being passed into the function are called 'arguments'.

Example
The following example uses the Call Shape to execute a function called 'Greeting'.

When the program executes, the first shape will call the Greeting Function. After it outputs "Hello!", it will return and the Main Function and it will output "Goodbye!".

Flowgorithm - Documentation 9 16
Flowgorithm - Documentation 9 17
 Main About Download Documentation Resources

Comment Shape

Default Appearance

What it Does
Comments don't affect how your program runs. They are used to include documentation about the
program for other programmers. These can include: the logic of a loop, known issues, changes made,
future changes, etc...

Example

The example, to the right, contains a comment between two Output Shapes. It has no affect on the
program.

Flowgorithm - Documentation 10 18
 Main About Download Documentation Resources

Declare Shape

Default Appearance

What it Does
A Declare Statement is used to create variables and arrays. These are used to store data while the program runs.

Example
The example, to the right, declares two variables: area (which stores real numbers) and radius (which stores integers). It
then uses an Assignment Statement to set the 'radius' to 7. Finally, it computes the area of a circle and stores the result in
'area'.

Flowgorithm - Documentation 11 19
 Main About Download Documentation Resources

Do Shape

Default Appearance

What it Does
A Do Loop is similar to a While Loop except that the block of statements is executed at least once before the
expression is checked.

Example
The example, to the right, shows a Do Statement that accepts only valid input. It will loop while the 'age' variable
is less than 1 or greater than 100.

Flowgorithm - Documentation 12 20
 Main About Download Documentation Resources

For Shape

Default Appearance

What it Does
For Loops increment a variable through a range of values. This is a common, useful, replacement for a While Statement.

Example
The example, to the right, prints the numbers from 1 to 100. The loop executes 100 times. The value of 'n' starts at 1 and
increases by 1 each time the loop executes. The loop ends when 'n' reaches 100.

Flowgorithm - Documentation 13 21
 Main About Download Documentation Resources

If Shape

Default Appearance

What it Does
An If Statement checks a Boolean expression and then executes a true or false branch based on
the result.

Example
The example, to the right, declares an integer called 'age'. It then reads the age from the keyboard.

Finally, an If Statement checks if the age is greater than or equal to 18. Based on this, it either
takes the false branch and displays "Sorry, not yet", or takes the true branch and displays "Go
vote!".

Flowgorithm - Documentation 14 22
 Main About Download Documentation Resources

Input Shape

Default Appearance

What it Does
An Input Statement reads a value from the keyboard and stores the result in a variable.

Example
The example, to the right, creates two variables: 'area' and 'radius'. It then uses an Input Statement to read the radius from
the keyboard. A final Output Statement then displays the result.

Flowgorithm - Documentation 15 23
 Main About Download Documentation Resources

Output Shape

Default Appearance

What it Does
An Output Statement evaluates an expression and then displays the result on the screen.

Example
The example, to the right, creates two variables: 'area' and 'radius'. It then uses an Input Statement to read the radius from
the keyboard. A final Output Statement then displays the result.

Flowgorithm - Documentation 16 24
 Main About Download Documentation Resources

While Shape

Default Appearance

What it Does
A While Loop evaluates a Boolean expression and, if true, executes statements. It rechecks the expression and loops until it
is false.

Example
The example, to the right, prints the numbers from 1 to 100. The assignment statement "n = n + 1" increments the variable 'n'
by 1 for each iteration of the loop.

Flowgorithm - Documentation 17 25