Question 1

What do the different flowchart shapes mean?

Accepted Answer

A rounded pill is a terminal, meaning start or end. A rectangle is a process: a step that does something. A diamond is a decision, which asks a yes/no question and has one arrow leaving it per answer. A parallelogram is input or output. These shapes come from the ANSI and ISO 5807 flowchart conventions and are near-universal.

Question 2

How do you draw a loop in a flowchart?

Accepted Answer

A loop is an arrow that points back to an earlier box. There is no special symbol for it: a while loop is a decision box whose 'yes' branch runs the body and then returns to the decision, and whose 'no' branch continues past it. This tool draws those back edges dashed and routes them down the side so they do not cross the main flow.

Question 3

Can a flowchart show recursion?

Accepted Answer

Not directly. A flowchart describes one pass through a procedure, and recursion means the procedure invokes itself, which the notation has no symbol for. The usual convention is to draw a single call and show the recursive step as an ordinary process box, which is how the merge sort and quick sort templates here are drawn.

Question 4

Can I move the boxes myself?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every box is placed automatically until you drag it, and from then on it stays exactly where you dropped it while the rest of the chart keeps arranging itself around it. Auto-layout releases every box at once, or a single box can be unpinned from its own panel, so a chart can never get stuck in a half-arranged state you cannot escape.

Question 5

Is my flowchart saved anywhere?

Accepted Answer

It is kept in your own browser as you work, so closing the tab does not lose it, but nothing is uploaded and there is no account. Use Copy JSON to take a chart with you, and Paste JSON to bring one back.