Branching

The computer code we wrote in Chapter 2, Variables and Memory went in one direction: straight down. Sometimes, we might want to be able to skip parts of the code. We might want the code to be able to branch in more than one direction. Schematically, we can represent this in the following manner:

A flowchart

In other words, we want the option to not run certain lines of code under certain conditions. The preceding figure is called a flowchart. According to this flowchart, if and only if we are hungry, then we will go prepare a sandwich, eat it, and then go and rest on the couch. If we are not hungry, then there is no need to make a sandwich, so we will simply rest on the couch.

We'll use flowcharts in this book only sometimes, but in UE4, you can even use flowcharts to program your game (using something called blueprints).

Note

This book is about C++ code, so we will always transform our flowcharts into actual C++ code in this book.