flowcontrole

Flowcontrole, or control flow, is the sequence in which statements in a program are executed. In imperative languages it defines how the program moves from one operation to the next, allowing the programmer to choose different paths, repeat sections of code, or jump to different points in the program.

The main mechanisms are sequential execution, selection (if, else, switch), and iteration (for, while, do-while). Additional constructs influence flow, such as break and continue in loops, return from a function, and exceptions that transfer control to error handlers.

Functions, recursion, and subroutines organize flow by calling other code and returning results. Some languages offer goto and labels for non-structured jumps, though these are used sparingly. Asynchronous and event-driven programming introduces flow driven by events, futures/promises, or await expressions, allowing the program to continue while waiting for long-running operations.

Flow control is distinct from data flow, which tracks how data moves through transformations. Understanding control flow is essential for algorithm design, debugging, and performance tuning. The concept appears across languages and paradigms, from procedural to functional and concurrent programming.