Advantages

DRAKON is better than standard flowcharts techniques, particularly for designing applications:

  1. Standardized Structure:

    • DRAKON enforces a more rigid structure than traditional flowcharts, reducing ambiguity.
    • The "skewer" (main vertical line) clearly shows the primary flow of control.

  2. Improved Readability:

    • DRAKON diagrams are designed to be read top-to-bottom, left-to-right, mimicking natural reading patterns.
    • The "silhouette" principle allows viewers to quickly grasp the overall structure of the algorithm.

  3. Reduced Cognitive Load:

    • Standardized icons and layouts make it easier to understand complex algorithms at a glance.
    • Consistency across diagrams reduces the learning curve for new team members.

  4. Error Reduction:

    • Strict rules for diagram construction help prevent logical errors common in traditional flowcharts.
    • The visual structure makes it harder to create infinite loops or unreachable code.

  5. Scalability:

    • DRAKON's hierarchical structure allows for better representation of complex systems.
    • "Silhouette" branches can encapsulate entire sub-processes, allowing for both high-level and detailed views.

  6. Branching Clarity:

    • DRAKON's representation of conditional statements and loops is clearer than in traditional flowcharts.
    • The visual structure makes it easier to trace all possible paths through the algorithm.

  7. Cross-disciplinary Communication:

    • DRAKON's clarity makes it useful for communicating algorithms to non-technical stakeholders.
    • This can improve collaboration between developers, managers, and domain experts.

  8. Maintenance and Updates:

    • The structured nature of DRAKON diagrams makes it easier to locate areas needing modification.
    • Changes to the algorithm are more likely to be understood by the entire team.

While traditional flowcharts are still useful for simple processes, DRAKON's advantages become more pronounced as the complexity of the system increases, making it particularly valuable for designing large-scale applications or systems with critical reliability requirements.