How Computers Make Decisions: Conditional Statements & Flowcharts

HOW COMPUTERS MAKE DECISIONS: CONDITIONAL STATEMENTS & FLOWCHARTS A static program executes the same steps every time. To handle real-world tasks, programs must adapt to input. This adaptation relies on conditional statements. THE IF-ELSE STATEMENT IN CODE In programming languages like Python, decisions are guided by "if", "elif" (else if), and "else" code blocks. Python Example: age = 16 if age >= 18: print("Eligible for unrestricted ticket.") elif age >= 13: print("Eligible for parental guidance ticket.") else: print("Eligible for child ticket only.") The interpreter evaluates "age >= 18". Because 16 is less than 18, the condition is false, and the code skips the first block. It then checks "age >= 13". Since 16 is greater than 13, this condition is true; the interpreter executes the second block and skips the rest. VISUALIZING LOGIC WITH FLOWCHARTS Before writing code, engineers use flowcharts to map out decision paths. Standard flowchart symbols represent logical operations: Ovals: Indicate the start or end of the process. Rectangles: Represent a process or action (e.g., adding a value). Diamonds: Represent a decision question yielding a YES or NO output. Parallelograms: Represent input or output operations. Flowchart Logic Path Example: [Start] -> [Input: Enter PIN] -> < Is PIN correct? > If NO -> [Display "Access Denied"] -> [End] If YES -> [Display "Access Granted"] -> [End] Mapping decisions visually helps detect logical errors before translating the process into code. Reference: "Computer-Programming.pdf", Syllabus & Decision Control Structures.