What is UML? - What does UML Stand for? - How is UML a Modeling Language?

14 important questions on What is UML? - What does UML Stand for? - How is UML a Modeling Language?

How is UML a modeling language?

UML is a language; specifically, it is a “MODELING” language. UML allows you to build models, a reflection of something in the real world or a reflection of something in a planned world. These models can be examined to determine how the modeled system may behave or how it is structured, showing essen- tial features, design decisions, and architecture.

However, some tools can read a UML model to generate documentation in book form. 

Why is this useful?

Which is very useful on projects with documentation requirements.

Give a good and a bad example of what you can model in the airline domain.

Good example:
- Aircraft
- Passengers


Bad example:
- Safety
- Friendship
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If there are parts of the domain or solution space that are well understood and known by everyone.... Then?

You may find it best to concentrate on those areas that most unusual or most uncertain.

What is the power of UML?


Concentrate on those areas that are most unusual or most uncertain.

It is here where the power of UML in helping you to understand the possibilities and communicating your decisions becomes most valuable.

Sometimes  depending on the objective, it may be necessary to model everything to the same level of detail.

Why would you do that?

  • If you wish to produce complete documentation

  • to generate automatically complete code from the model

  • to perform some other automated model transformation

In what is UML different from other modeling languages?

Primarily in power and scope

Examples of UML being different in power and scope 1:

Flowcharts are typically limited to showing control flow, processing steps and input-output.


UML equivalent (tegenhanger) from Flowcharts: Activity Diagram can show the control flow, processing steps and input output but can also show concurrency, interrupts and data flow.

UML can also show structural information in what diagram?

Class Diagram

What is a flowchart?

An other modeling language which is typically limited to showing control flow, processing steps, and input-output.

UML can also show  Message Exchange in what Diagram?

Sequence Diagram

EXPRESS: Can display most of the core UML structural information but ......

only for the context of database design.

It also can't model any of the behavior features that UML can.

What can capture UML?

  • • the system’s features and characteristics.
  • • the structure, behavior, and relationship of the system’s elements.
  • • the purposes, architecture, design decisions for the system.

What can you model with UML?

You can model things with crisp boundaries and their prop- erties, relationships, and behaviors.

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