Dataflow programming is a programming paradigm in which computations are modeled through directed graphs: nodes are instructions and data flows through the connections between them.
Dataflow programming is a programming paradigm which models programs as directed graphs and calculation proceeds in a way similar to electrical circuits. More precisely:
- nodes are instructions that takes one or more inputs, perform calculation on them and present the result(s) as output;
- edges connects inputs and outputs of the instructions -- this way the output of an instruction can be fed directly to the input on another node to trigger another calculation;
- data "travels" using the directed edges and triggers the instructions as they pass through the nodes.
Often dataflow programming languages are visual, the most prominent example being LabView.
Resources
- a good overview and a list of languages is given in this question: Dataflow Programming Languages
- this paper gives a thorough overview of dataflow programming: Advances in Dataflow Programming Languages
- another overview of dataflow programming: Dataflow Programming Concept, Languages and Applications
- Dataflow Programming on Wikipedia
- Dataflow Programming on C2
