Chapter 1. UML 2.0 Pocket Reference

Introduction

Welcome to the UML 2.0 Pocket Reference. This book is written for an audience familiar with object-oriented programming (OOP) and the Unified Modeling Language (UML). It is not intended to teach UML from the ground up. Rather, it provides a convenient reference for those times when you know there is a way to do something but are unsure of the syntax. This book has been updated and expanded to cover UML 2.0, as defined by the Object Management Group (OMG).

Tip

If you need more than just a reminder about UML syntax, please see UML 2.0 in a Nutshell (O’Reilly).

UML provides a common and simple graphical representation of software design and implementation. It allows developers, architects, and experienced users to discuss the inner workings of software. UML can express detailed design at the class level, show where concurrency and parallelism can increase performance or robustness, and capture how a system must be configured and installed.

There’s some debate over how to refer to UML; some authors prefer “the UML,” while others prefer simply “UML.” Strictly speaking, “the UML” is grammatically correct; however, this book uses the more colloquial “UML.”

Whenever it is helpful to clarify UML syntax or semantics, this book compares UML to a concrete language mapping in Java™ or C++.

Typographic Conventions

The following typographic conventions are used in this book:

Constant width

Used in UML syntax diagrams and in text to refer to class names, stereotype ...

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