Modeling a Flow Chart

Question

Hey guys,

I have a predetermined flow chart made up entirely out of boolean conditions and a bunch of logic to be performed in response.

The flow is unlikely to change much, but there is a small possibility that it will. (new steps might be introduced, or the order of conditions might change)

What would be the best approach to code this? A big set of nested if else statements? Workflow Foundation? Anything else?

Thanks, rauchy

Answer 1

If flexibility is not a primary concern then you can go and just hardcode the whole flow chart logic. Simplest is often best. Structure your code according to the original flowchart's concepts, so it will be easy to see the analogy and make changes in the future if necessery.

Windows Workflow Foundation can be a good tool if you're already familiar with it or you're willing to take the learning curve.

Answer 2

Flow charts which have an acknowledged possibility of change invite a State Machine for implementation. Whether you go all the way to the State pattern or simply implement the state machine (data driven doesn't seem to have a justification YET in your described case) is implementation detail.