blockdiagramdataflow-diagram

Difference between Data flow diagram and block diagram


Can anyone explain the difference between Data Flow Diagram and Block Diagram ? I Googled it but didn't get any satisfactory stuff that's why I turned to Stack Overflow.

Thanks.


Solution

  • It is all about the definition. Data Flow Diagram (DFD) has a very well defined notation and semantic. In the other hand, any diagram made from blocks can be called Block Diagram. You can call a DFD as Block Diagram, but not otherwise. Every time you use a block diagram, you have to specify what each block means, but when you use a square in a DFD, following the Yourdon/DeMarco notation, it means an input/output and so on.

    Here it goes an expanded answer, copying from wikipedia:

    If you go deeper looking for differences, you need to defined an analytical background. An analogy would be try to find differences between apples and bananas; they are fruits and taste good (at least to me), but they have different shapes and composition. You can establish the differences between fruits if you describe shape, color, vitamins. What are the features you are interested at evaluating DFD and Block Diagrams to tell them apart?