> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://infosys.selmotech.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://infosys.selmotech.com/selmo-solution/selmo-solution-en/selmo-how-it-works/selmo-training/chapter-1-the-theoretical-background/1.1-from-flow-code-to-machine-behavior.md).

# 1.1 From flow code to machine behavior

In classical PLC programming you think in **commands**:\
If a signal is present, a line of code is executed; if a condition is true, an output is set.\
This approach worked for decades, but it has two central weaknesses:

1. **The behavior of the machine** is only indirectly recognizable.\
   The program code describes, *what* is switched, but not, *why*.\
   Even experts often need hours or days to reconstruct from thousands of lines of code how a machine actually operates.
2. **The sequence is not formally described.**\
   A classical PLC can execute many branches, subprograms and side conditions simultaneously.\
   This leads to unpredictable states, race conditions and hard-to-reproduce errors.

Selmo takes a different approach:\
Instead of executing commands, it describes **behavior**.\
No longer “if input X, then output Y”, but “the machine is in state Z, and in this state the following rules apply.”

This changes the direction of thinking:\
From *programming* (writing instructions) to *modeling* (describing behavior).


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