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Java Forum / General / February 2007Is there any tool to describe program algorithm in flowchart and generate code from the chart?
Hello, everyone, Is there any tools which we can drawl program algorithms in flowchart? In programming, we conceive an algorithm and describe it clearly in document. and then implement it by programming language, like java, c/c ++. we pay double the times in describing the algorithm, one is when designing, second is when coding. My idea is to do it in one step, just express the algorithm in flowchart, then generate codes from the flowchart. If it hasn't been clear, let me explain the case in more detail. like the algorithm for mistyped keyword suggesting: background: use may mistyped keyword in doing search on search engine site, ( as http://www.roboo.com , http://www.google.com ) PronounceDict, is our pronounciation dictionary which maps pronounciation to a list of keywords. * 1. find keyword in search dictionary, if exist, return empty, else - > 2 <br> <br> * * 2. find suggest keyword by pronounce/soundex: <br> * get the keyword's pronounce, <br> * find pronounce in PronounceDict, <br> * if found return keywords list in the PronounceDict for the <br> * keyword's pronounce. else -> 3 <br><br> * * 3. get the soundex, find the soundex for soundex dictionary, <br> * if found, return keywords list in the SoundexDict for the keyword's soundex.<br> * else return empty. It is just an outline of the algorithm. there maybe some if, while , and sequential structure of the algorithm. We can draw the total algorithm process in microsoft visio or openoffice draw. The problem is how we can convert these algorithm flowchart to code? Any tools can do the work? If can generate flowchart from code, it would be better. Any comments are appreciated. ... > The problem is how we can convert these algorithm flowchart to code? I think you should make that the study of your PhD thesis in AI. > Any tools can do the work? Wetware? Andrew T. > ... > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Andrew T. Thanks, Andrew, The idea is to express complicated algorithms in flowchart. I think it can be done. Have found jgrasp, jGRASP can produce Control Structure Diagrams (CSDs) for Java, C, C++, Objective-C, Ada, and VHDL. but not flowchart. not mention the function to generate code from flowchart. > The problem is how we can convert these algorithm flowchart to code? > Any tools can do the work? I don't know if any currently available general-purpose tools like that. Some UML editors generate code, and I think there are also special-purpose visual editors for various flowchart-like applications. Many years ago, I wrote something very similar myself (it actually generated Simula/DEMOS code for discrete-event simulations from flowchart-like "Activity Diagrams"). It's pretty trivial to do if you can build on a suitable package for doing the graphics and user-interaction -- something that understands networks of typed nodes and links and their associated data. The problem is that the result is /insufferably/ tedious to use. It's a lot easier just to type the program in as text... I should mention that few people these days would agree that the best way to write a program is to create an exhaustively detailed flowchart before starting to code. Few people use flowcharts at all for programming design (they are used to specify somewhat related things like workflow, or flow through a user interface, but not the way the program itself is written). Indeed not many people would agree that exhaustively detailed design should be completed before coding begins. (Design happens, of course, and sometimes people choose to draw diagrams too, but it doesn't have to be complete, and it certainly doesn't have to be detailed, before you start programming.) -- chris On Feb 2, 9:59 pm, "Chris Uppal" <chris.up...@metagnostic.REMOVE- THIS.org> wrote: > > The problem is how we can convert these algorithm flowchart to code? > > Any tools can do the work? [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > -- chris Chris, Thanks for your suggest of mapping it to a network. also your comment is very reasonable, maybe I am too laaaazy, I hope don't need to code, just draw some charts, and things would begin to work. In my memorization of electronic experiment class, we just draw a flowchart of electronic circuit, and click the mouse, then the machine runs by the logic of the flowchart. Also, in FinalBuilder, we can drag and drop icons to compose a flowchart, though it is rather simple. > maybe I am too laaaazy, That's a good thing in a programmer (seriously!). > I hope don't need to code, just draw some charts, and things would > begin to work. Yup, that's the lazy programmer's attitude all right -- "why should /I/ work when the computer can do it for me?". Hold that thought ;-) -- chris > Hello, everyone, Is there any tools which we can drawl program > algorithms in flowchart? [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > If can generate flowchart from code, it would be better. > Any comments are appreciated. Funny that you should bring it up, I was thinking about something similar to this on my morning commute. My thought was a little more complex, but also more complete. You can think of every aspect of a Programs design as an object. The Class object, the Method object, the statement object, etc... What I was thinking, most of what learning a programming language involves is learning how to create and manipulate these objects in a text-based manor. in java, to create a Class object (not to be confused with java.lang.Class), you have to type "class ClassName {}" It might be possible to represent all of these objects in a less textual and more graphical way. You would also be able to manipulate these graphical representations in a more intuitive way than, say, cut- and-paste. An IDE based around this could provide a very powerful set of refactoring capabilities. Well, thats the thought I had. > > Hello, everyone, Is there any tools which we can drawl program > > algorithms in flowchart? [quoted text clipped - 57 lines] > > Well, thats the thought I had. Hi, Daniel, it is a funny question :) Thanks for your great idea. It is just a presentation different between text and graphic, If we can decompose the problem into different aspects, and implement them in a graphic way, then maybe it would be solved. > You can think of every aspect of a Programs design as an object. The > Class object, the Method object, the statement object, etc... [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > and-paste. An IDE based around this could provide a very powerful set > of refactoring capabilities. You are working yourself towards Smalltalk ;-) (Though no Smalltalk IDE I know of puts /heavy/ emphasis on graphical-style manipulation of code entities, those entities are "real" objects in the running IDE. Not the code /for/ a class, but the class itself. Not the code /of/ a method, but the method itself (methods /have/ source code, rather than /are/ source code. If you think of the IDE's concrete GUI as an MVP/MVC-style view of the underlying objects (which is technically correct) then the choice of view(s) is just a matter of what seems most convenient. E.g. in Dolphin, I usually more classes around the class hierarchy by drag and drop since that's (to me) the most convenient way to interact with them. Other people may usually prefer to do it by changing typing in a replacement for (part of) the class definition. On other occasions, it may be better to execute code that /tells/ the classes to move themselves around. Live objects...) -- chris >methods /have/ source code, rather than /are/ source code. In Java, the source code of a method is the »method declaration«, so it is also not the same as the method proper. Free MagazinesGet these publications absolutely FREE for up to 12 months. There are no hidden fees and no obligation. Simply choose a title, complete the application form and submit it. Read more ...
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