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Unified Modeling Language

UML Books

  • Sam's teach yourself UML in 24 Hours
    by Joseph Schmuller
  • UML Bible
    by Tom Pender
  • The Elements of UML Style
    by Scott W. Ambler

UML Diagrams

  • Use Case Model - captures user's perspective
    • Use case diagrams
  • Logical Model
    • Structure of the system
      • Class diagrams, package diagrams
    • Behaviour of the system
      • Sequence diagrams, communication diagrams, state transition diagrams, activity diagrams
  • Physical Model
    • Component diagram (software)
    • Deployment diagram (hardware)

Use Case Diagrams

Identifies who interacts with the system - actors

Identifies major parts of system's functionality - use cases

Logical Model

(Structure of the System)

Describes the static strucure of the system

  • Classes
    • Attributes
    • Operations
    • Relationships
  • Class diagrams
  • Packages
  • Package diagrams

Use Case Analysis

Use cases are top-level items of system's functionality from the user's point of view

Two comnponents of documenting use cases:

  • Written use case descriptions
  • Use case diagram

Shows interaction between users and the system in very general terms

  • No detailed steps
  • No timing condideration

No standard format

Typical elements:

  • Use case name (verb-noun phrase)
  • Who interacts with it (actors)
  • What triggers it
  • Normal flow of events
  • Subflows (break it down to simplify description)
  • Exceptional flows

Use Case Diagrams

Use cases - major pieces of system's functionality, as observed by the users

  • Within the system's boundaries
  • Labeled with ver-noun phrase

Actors - people (roles) or other systems that interact with our system

  • Derives benefit from the system
  • Is external to the system

Relationships

Association

  • Links an actor to the use case(s) with which it interacts

Relationships between two use cases

  • Include
  • Extend
  • Generalization

Relationships between two actors do not exist (irrelevant outside of the system)

Relationships between two use cases cannot be an association

Classes

Finding and documenting classes

  • Informal description
    • Identify nouns (objects) and verbs (operations) in written problem description
    • CRC cards
  • Structured analysis
    • Model the problem - dataflow diagrams, etc
    • Analyze data elements for potential objects

Class Diagrams

Symbols

  • Class
  • Association
    • Cardinality
    • Association classes
  • Aggregation
  • Generalization
public ClassName

+ PublicProperty1

+ PublicProperty2

+ PublicProperty3

+ PublicMethod()

# ProtectedMethod( param1 ) : string

abstract ClassName

+ PublicProperty : int

# ProtectedProperty : string

- privateProperty : float = defaultValue

+ PublicMethod()

# ProtectedMethod( param1 ) : string

Association Relationship