UNIFIED MODELING LANGUAGE

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a general-purpose modeling language in

the field of software engineering, which is designed to provide a standard way to visualize the
design of a system. It was created and developed by Grady Booch, Ivar Jacobson and James
Rumbaugh at Rational Software during 199495 with further development led by them
through 1996. In 1997 it was adopted as a standard by the Object Management Group
(OMG), and has been managed by this organization ever since. In 2000 the Unified Modeling
Language was also accepted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as
an approved ISO standard. Since then it has been periodically revised to cover the latest
revision of UML.

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) offers a way to visualize a system's

architectural blueprints in a diagram (see image), including elements such as Although
originally intended solely for object-oriented design documentation, the Unified Modeling
Language (UML) has been extended to cover a larger set of design documentation (as listed
above), and been found useful in many contexts.

TYPES OF UML DIAGRAMS

UML defines nine types of diagrams: class (package), object, use case, sequence,
collaboration, statechart, activity, component, and deployment.

CLASS DIAGRAMS

Class diagrams are the backbone of almost every object oriented method, including
UML. They describe the static structure of a system.

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PACKAGE DIAGRAMS

Package diagrams are a subset of class diagrams, but developers sometimes treat them
as a separate technique. Package diagrams organize elements of a system into related groups
to minimize dependencies between packages.

OBJECT DIAGRAMS

Object diagrams describe the static structure of a system at a particular time. They can
be used to test class diagrams for accuracy.

USE CASE DIAGRAMS

Use case diagrams model the functionality of system using actors and use cases.

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SEQUENCE DIAGRAMS

Sequence diagrams describe interactions among classes in terms of an exchange of

messages over time.

COLLABORATION DIAGRAMS

Collaboration diagrams represent interactions between objects as a series of

sequenced messages. Collaboration diagrams describe both the static structure and the
dynamic behavior of a system.

STATECHART DIAGRAMS

Statechart diagrams describe the dynamic behavior of a system in response to external

stimuli. Statechart diagrams are especially useful in modeling reactive objects whose states
are triggered by specific events.

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ACTIVITY DIAGRAMS

Activity diagrams illustrate the dynamic nature of a system by modeling the flow of
control from activity to activity. An activity represents an operation on some class in the
system that results in a change in the state of the system. Typically, activity diagrams are
used to model workflow or business processes and internal operation.

COMPONENT DIAGRAMS

Component diagrams describe the organization of physical software components,

including source code, run-time (binary) code, and executables.

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DEPLOYMENT DIAGRAMS

Deployment diagrams depict the physical resources in a system, including nodes,

components, and connections.

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT METHODS

UML is not a development method by itself; however, it was designed to be

compatible with the leading object-oriented software development methods of its time (for
example OMT, Booch method, Objectory).

MODELING

It is important to distinguish between the UML model and the set of diagrams of a
system. A diagram is a partial graphic representation of a system's model. The set of
diagrams need not completely cover the model and deleting a diagram does not change the
model. The model may also contain documentation that drives the model elements and
diagrams (such as written use cases). UML diagrams represent two different views of a
system model:

Static (or structural) view: emphasizes the static structure of the system using
objects, attributes, operations and relationships. The structural view includes class
diagrams and composite structure diagrams.
Dynamic (or behavioral) view: emphasizes the dynamic behavior of the system by
showing collaborations among objects and changes to the internal states of
objects. This view includes sequence diagrams, activity diagrams and state
machine diagrams.

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STRUCTURE DIAGRAMS

Structure diagrams emphasize the things that must be present in the system being
modeled. Since structure diagrams represent the structure, they are used extensively in
documenting the software architecture of software systems. For example, the component
diagram which describes how a software system is split up into components and shows the
dependencies among these components.

BEHAVIOR DIAGRAMS

Behavior diagrams emphasize what must happen in the system being modeled. Since
behavior diagrams illustrate the behavior of a system, they are used extensively to describe
the functionality of software systems. As an example, the activity diagram describes the
business and operational step-by-step activities of the components in a system.

INTERACTION DIAGRAMS

Interaction diagrams, a subset of behavior diagrams, emphasize the flow of control

and data among the things in the system being modeled. For example, the sequence diagram
which shows how objects communicate with each other in terms of a sequence of messages.

Component diagram
Activity diagram
Sequence diagram
Class diagram
Use Case Diagram
Communication diagram

REFERENCES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Modeling_Language

http://www.uml.org/

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/library/769.html