Block diagram

A block diagram is a diagram of a system, in which the principal parts or functions are represented by blocks connected by lines, that show the relationships of the blocks. They are heavily used in engineering &mdash; in hardware design, software design, and process flow diagrams.

The block diagram is typically used for a higher level, less detailed description aimed more at understanding the overall concepts and less at understanding the details of implementation. Contrast this with the schematic diagram and layout diagram used in the electrical engineering world, where the schematic diagram shows the details of each electrical component and the layout diagram shows the details of physical construction.