Control Flow vs Data Flow

After my first day of SSIS training my boss walked into the office and said to me, "how was the first day of class".  To which I responded, "great!"  Then asked me, "so what is the difference between the control flow and data flow?"  This posed a simple, but foundational concept, of SSIS.  There are a few key things to remember when talking about the differences between control flow and data flow, and not just the completely obvious statement: data flow deals with data.  Hopefully if you are beginning in SSIS there will be something in the information below that will help you understand the differences just a little bit better.

Control Flow:

• Process is the key:  precedence constraints control the project flow based on task completion, success or failure
• Task 1 needs to complete before task 2 begins
• Smallest unit of the control flow is a task
• Control flow does not move data from task to task
• Tasks are run in series if connected with precedence or in parallel
• Package control flow is made up of containers and tasks connected with precedence constraints to control package flow