Editing Flowchart (section)

== Types ==
[[File:IBM flowchart template.jpg|right|thumb|[[IBM]] flowcharting template]]
Sterneckert (2003) suggested that flowcharts can be modeled from the perspective of different user groups (such as managers, system analysts and clerks), and that there are four general types:<ref name="Ster03">Alan B. Sterneckert (2003) ''Critical Incident Management''. [https://books.google.com/books?id=8z93xStbEpAC&pg=PA126 p. 126]</ref> 
* ''Document flowcharts'', showing controls over a document-flow through a system
* ''Data flowcharts'', showing controls over a data-flow in a system
* ''System flowcharts'', showing controls at a physical or resource level
* ''Program flowchart'', showing the controls in a program within a system
Notice that every type of flowchart focuses on some kind of control, rather than on the particular flow itself.<ref name="Ster03"/>

However, there are some different classifications. For example, Andrew Veronis (1978) named three basic types of flowcharts: the ''system flowchart'', the ''general flowchart'', and the ''detailed flowchart''.<ref>Andrew Veronis (1978) ''Microprocessors: Design and Applications''. [https://books.google.com/books?id=GZ9QAAAAMAAJ&q=%22three+basic+types+of+flowcharts+%28ie,+the+system+flowchart,+the+general+flowchart,+and+the+detailed+flowchart%29.%22 p. 111]</ref> That same year Marilyn Bohl (1978) stated "in practice, two kinds of flowcharts are used in solution planning: ''system flowcharts'' and ''program flowcharts''...".<ref>Marilyn Bohl (1978) ''A Guide for Programmers''. p. 65.</ref> More recently, Mark A. Fryman (2001) identified more differences: "Decision flowcharts, logic flowcharts, systems flowcharts, product flowcharts, and process flowcharts are just a few of the different types of flowcharts that are used in business and government".<ref>Mark A. Fryman (2001) ''Quality and Process Improvement''. [https://books.google.com/books?id=M-_B7czAy0kC&pg=PA169 p. 169].</ref>

In addition, many diagram techniques are similar to flowcharts but carry a different name, such as [[Unified Modeling Language|UML]] [[activity diagram]]s.

Reversible flowcharts<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yokoyama |first1=Tetsuo |last2=Axelsen |first2=Holger Bock |last3=Glück |first3=Robert |title=Fundamentals of reversible flowchart languages |journal=Theoretical Computer Science |date=January 2016 |volume=611 |pages=87–115 |doi=10.1016/j.tcs.2015.07.046|doi-access=free}}</ref> represent a paradigm in computing that focuses on the reversibility of computational processes. Unlike traditional computing models, where operations are often irreversible, reversible flowcharts ensure that any atomic computational step can be reversed. Reversible flowcharts are shown to be as expressive as [[reversible Turing machines]], and are a theoretical foundation for [[Janus (time-reversible computing programming language)|structured reversible programming]] and energy-efficient reversible computing systems.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Krakovsky |first1=Marina |title=Taking the heat |journal=Communications of the ACM |date=June 2021 |volume=64 |issue=6 |pages=18–20 |doi=10.1145/3460214|doi-access=free}}</ref>