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Flowgen: Flowchart-Based Documentation for C++ Codes

Software Engineering 2014-05-14 v1 Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science High Energy Physics - Experiment High Energy Physics - Lattice High Energy Physics - Phenomenology

Abstract

We present the Flowgen tool, which generates flowcharts from annotated C++ source code. The tool generates a set of interconnected high-level UML activity diagrams, one for each function or method in the C++ sources. It provides a simple and visual overview of complex implementations of numerical algorithms. Flowgen is complementary to the widely-used Doxygen documentation tool. The ultimate aim is to render complex C++ computer codes accessible, and to enhance collaboration between programmers and algorithm or science specialists. We describe the tool and a proof-of-concept application to the VINCIA plug-in for simulating collisions at CERN's Large Hadron Collider.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1405.3240,
  title  = {Flowgen: Flowchart-Based Documentation for C++ Codes},
  author = {David A. Kosower and J. J. Lopez-Villarejo},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1405.3240},
  year   = {2014}
}

Comments

17 pages, 10 figures, supplemental material (two ancillary files)

R2 v1 2026-06-22T04:13:11.801Z