The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Unified Modelling Language - for the bookshelf Major Keary |
The Unified Modelling Language (UML) is about communicating software design graphically. There is nothing new about that, but a rough schematic sketch on the back of an envelope is no longer good enough. In the preface of Learning UML the author says, " This book is for anyone interested in learning and effectively applying the UML including analysts and end users who specify requirements, architects who broadly design systems that satisfy requirements, designers who detail designs, developers who implement designs, testers who verify and validate systems against requirements, managers (portfolio, product, program, and project) who orchestrate system development efforts, and others involved in system development."
Whatever happened to programmers and software engineers? In enterprises and government it is common for people to invent new job titles to support bids for more resources and increased remuneration. The panoply of 'architects' and the like listed above is not the result of that kind of thing; it represents an important shift in the way software and non-software issues are approached at the enterprise level. Data modelling has become a discipline in its own right and the use of modelling languages is not confined to data or software.
The Encylopedia of Computer Science 4/e says, "Data models are notations for describing data. Typically, they are used to describe the structure and content of databases. . [one, the entity-relationship model (ER), is in a] category of data model [that] has been developed into a powerful systems analysis and design tool. The current de facto standard is Universal Modeling Language (UML) ...."
Terry Halpin discusses ER and UML in his book, Information Modeling and Relational Databases and anyone with a serious interest in data modelling should read the particular chapters.
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Learning UML is described as "the quintessential tutorial", but is not a
tutorial in the sense of providing the reader with pat solutions of the
if-you-want-to-do-that-then-do-this kind. It is about fundamentals; a thorough
explanation of the rationale and principles of UML, and how it works. While the
book does not assume any prior knowledge of UML, the reader needs to know
something about object-oriented concepts. The object-oriented paradigm is
explained in the introductory part along with the language concepts that are
essential to a proper understanding of UML.
The tutorial is example-driven and
supported by UML-generated illustrations. At the end of each chapter there are a
number of exercises; solutions are contained in an appendix. If you have a need
to understand or use a modelling language, this is an excellent introduction. It
is not a hand-holding text, but the discussions are written in clear language.
Especially useful for self-study.
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Sinan Si Alhir: Learning UML ISBN 0-596-00344-7 Published by O'Reilly, 234 pp., RRP $75.00 incl. GST |
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Reprinted from the November 2004 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
