Our First Blog Post: Why We Think code2flow is For Everybody
Hi there! We hope you’re having a great day!
If you’re reading this article, you’re probably interested in using code2flow for something that matters in your life. Thank you very much for that!
However, we know some of you can be actually wondering right now why the world ever needs a tool that generates flowcharts from codes. The truth is, one of our founders originally created code2flow to serve specific roles in certain industries. Code2flow was indeed a developer’s tool intended to help the technical staff of a company communicate with each other and with non-tech people. For example, it’s usually an industrial requirement to create a visual documentation of processes and products for internal use or certification. This is quite common in software development, mechanical engineering, and healthcare. While we know these domains are the verticals of businesses that are most interested in code2flow, we have a strong belief code2flow is applicable in every walk of life. That’s why we want to push code2flow into a big commercial launch, and we’re already doing so, firstly by convincing you it may meet your needs in a way you haven’t realized 😉.
Over the past few weeks, our team at code2flow have been discussing growth strategies to achieve a wider reach to users. We have come up with a lot of ideas, one of which is of course getting featured by well-known news agencies like TechCrunch and Forbes, and product makers’ platforms like BetaList and Product Hunt. While we were doing the research, we came across an article written by Marc Köhlbrugge, the founder of BetaList: “How I tricked TechCrunch into writing about my startup.” Content-wise, it’s about a very smart trick that any startup should note down in its pocketbook. It was definitely a good read from which we learned many insights.
However, it’s almost text without graphics. We want to apply the knowledge we gained from it, but we don’t want to read every detail again and again. You suggest outlining it, for example, in a bulleted list? Yes, that’s a good idea, but what about the chronological feel of the content? Why not use code2flow to create a flowchart to represent the ideas while still showing the implied step order 😁? Spending 20-ish minutes, we got this flowchart that summarizes the steps that Marc used to promote his brainchild. Take a look:
Don’t be overwhelmed by the result 😜. Instead of wasting an hour or two creating the same chart in a visual editor, we let the machine interpret 46 lines of codes and decide to illustrate the boxes and arrows using its robotic rationale (don’t argue with it, because you see the outcome is great):
Surprisingly, the flowchart is pleasing in many aspects we even didn’t think of (though we knew from the beginning it would impress us in some way as we are the creators of code2flow 😊). For example, all the rounded red boxes indicate a failure or a negative scenario, and they all stay on the left of the chart! Meanwhile, the success path is connected cohesively on the right. Looking at the flowchart again and reflecting on the content, we came up with a hidden lesson, too. The scheme worked thanks to a mixture of creativity, patience, and experience while passivity like waiting for directly signups, approaching TechCrunch either with too much haste or without preparation would have made the efforts go down the drain!
Some intentional elements we would like to highlight as they will surely make your code2flow experience even better 👌:
Surround the text with specific symbols to change the shape/style of a node:
Use whatever syntax that leads to the desired outcome. We created the branches in three different ways: the “if..else” with custom labels, “switch,” and “match” keywords.
Markdown to change the font style:
Notes are awesome, and there are many ways to leave them:
Make intentional line break to “influence” the look of the chart without messing up the codes (so the actual number of code lines are less than the shown 46) :
Simplify a loop by attributing a label to a node, and use “goto” to show where the arrow should go:
What do you think?
With the help of language, text is the immediate means of thought expression. We don’t question the reading comprehension of human beings, but we do think illustrations like flowcharts can help us memorize knowledge and apply them into practice better. Just imagine you’re Marc in this situation, and one day you wanted to make a presentation on the ideas he discussed in the article. You could surely consider using the flowchart we created as the presentation itself, or as handouts for the audience.
On a more ambitious note, with the development of AI and machine learning, our vision is there will be tools that can translate text or even voice into (aesthetic) pictures directly. Code2flow is competitively the bridge that connects us to this future. What is your opinion? What do you think is the present and forthcoming use cases of code2flow? Let us know in a response!
