Re: New to UML


Phlip wrote:


Thanks for the dissertation.

If you like that...wait till you see my actual dissertation!

Why did Lahman say that starting with the Class
Diagram is "basic to every OOA/D book I've ever read"? (Feel free to let L.
answer that one.)

I can't answer for Lahman but I have also seen many OOA/D books that
start with the class diagram and I personally find it to be the most
useful diagramming technique. Once you communicate the object
boundaries and the relationships, frequently a lot of the remaining
information is obvious. Sometime not and this information needs to be
elaborated on with other diagrams. Of course I've heard other people
explain the benefits of starting with a use case diagram and letting
the class diagram evolve only after the interaction with the system are
defined and understood. I would consider these two diagrams to be the
most basic and common starting points for understanding a problem space
and designing a solution.

I thought I picked up the vibe (here, not in XP-land or wherever) that you
don't start with one. I have seen plenty of newbies start there and get
into instant trouble.


Well vibes frequently give you a skewed sense of reality, only focusing
on the fringe problems and not the foundations of an issue.

In general, however, I wouldn't recommend a newbie developer to take on
software design with ANY tool. Including UML. I would recommend that
a newbie spend their time coding and communicating with UML diagrams
created by a software engineer or architect. After they are
comfortable with how problems are solved and the different
representations of those problems, then they can try thier hand and
designing solutions of their own. A class diagram and a use case
diagram would be a good starting point for a for represenentiing these
solutions but by the time they are ready to create their own solutions,
they would probably be pretty familiar with all the diagrams.

Scott Frye
Scottf3095@xxxxxxx
-------------------------------------------------
"The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person
doing it."
Chinese Proverb.
-------------------------------------------------

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Trying to understand how to design circuits
    ... > diagram is the easy bit. ... Signal levels ... unable to provide a working design; designing all the blocks "in paralle" ... The vast majority of engineers out there are of the "hook up the blocks" ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: How to use date object
    ... Nice explaination and diagram about time at: ... marie wrote: ... > I am a newbie in python. ...
    (comp.lang.python)
  • breaking diagram into pages
    ... Im a newbie. ... I have this HUGE diagram that obviously doesnt fit in a 1 ... I want to break the diagram into multiple pages as needed using ...
    (microsoft.public.office.developer.vba)
  • Re: newbie cube question
    ... Why wouldn't "newbie" just resign the initial double, ... I think that if you look very carefully at the diagram again, ... a redouble to 8. ...
    (rec.games.backgammon)