UML Diagrams — Part I
Introduction
In this series, we will discuss in-depth all the UML diagrams, their needs and how to use them with a real-time example. In this blog, we will first learn what UML is and why to use it. We will also introduce the problem statement on which we will construct all the UML diagrams. So let’s get started !!
PS: If you know the basics you can directly skip to problem statement part
What is UML?
UML is an abbreviation for Unified Model Language. The Unified Modeling Language is a general-purpose modelling language in software engineering created to visualise the design of a system. It was developed by Rational Software in 1994–95 and is currently maintained by Object Management Group (OMG)[1]. Later, in 2005 it was accepted by the International Organization of Standardization (ISO)[2]. Currently, that is as of 2022 the latest version of UML accepted by ISO is UML 2.5.
Why use UML?
As the Unified Modeling Language is a general-purpose language, it is closely based on the object-oriented programming structure (OOPs). Thus, if the software is designed using UML methods, it becomes really easy to develop the software using any object-oriented programming language.[3]
UML Diagrams
Types of UML Diagrams
As shown in the above figure the UML diagrams are grossly categorized into 2 major parts
1. Structural Diagrams
2. Behavioral Diagrams
Structural Diagrams
This category of diagrams represents the structure, implementation, and design of the entire application. These help a great deal in the development process of the same. The structural ULM diagrams act as a road map in the execution of the project.
The structural ULM diagrams contain :
1. Class Diagram
2. Object Diagram
3. Component Diagram
4. Deployment Diagram
Behavioural Diagrams
This category of the diagram explains the behaviour of the system and how it interacts with other entities in the environment. This acts like a walkthrough for the client as well as the development team showing them how the system will be actually used.
The behavioural UML diagrams contain :
1. Use Case Diagram
2. Activity Diagram
3. Sequence Diagram
Problem Statement
Now that we know the basics of what the topic is, let’s move on to the actual creation of the UML diagram. We will do this by taking a case study, so explaining each UML diagram will be easy to understand. Before moving on to the construction of the actual UML diagram we will first see the problem statement we want to solve.
In an everyday hectic schedule, it becomes a daunting task to maintain a healthy diet without it being heavy on the pocket or it is neglected completely. Thus, the proposed system gives the users complete diet guidance according to their workout plans morphing into their daily schedule.
This is the given problem statement, but to understand it a bit more, we can rephrase it as “An application to give the user a complete diet plan taking into consideration the activity of the individual per week”.
Now in UML - Part II, we will construct all the structural diagrams for this problem statement, and learn in detail about each one of them.
References
[1] Fettke, P., 2005. Unified modelling language. In Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, First Edition (pp. 2921–2928). IGI Global.
[2] ISO/IEC 19501: 2005, 2004. Information Technology — Open Distributed Processing — Unified Modeling Language (UML) Version 1.4. 2.
[3] Dennis, A., Wixom, B. and Tegarden, D., 2015. Systems analysis and design: An object-oriented approach with UML. John Wiley & sons.
[4] Files, A.N.M.C., 2013. Omg unified modelling language (omg UML). Object Management Group, pp.1–752.
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