UML 2.0 in a Nutshell

Typographic Conventions

The following typographic conventions are used in this book:

Constant width

Used in the text to refer to class names, stereotypes, and other elements taken from UML diagrams.

Constant width italic

Used in UML diagrams to indicate text that would be replaced by the user.

Italic

Used when new terms are introduced, and for URLs and file references.

...

Ellipses indicate nonessential material that has been omitted from a diagram for the sake of readability.

Tip

Indicates a tip, suggestion, or general note.

Warning

Indicates an aspect of UML that you must be particularly careful about using.

Note that UML makes frequent use of curly braces ({}) and guillemots («»). When these are used in a syntax definition, they are required by UML.

Nearly everything in UML notation is optional, so there is no specific notation to indicate an optional field. If a particular piece of syntax is required, it is noted in the text.