UML 2 for Dummies

I was shopping for books on UML -- trying to introduce UML to my colleagues -- and came upon this highly-rated UML for Dummies. Got this book and a few others. The others does much better as an introductory read. This is certainly not a good book for UML. Especially for newbies. It doesn't introduce ideas clearly, uses too many tables (... wonder if the authors have heard of class diagram???), and tries too hard to be literary, as opposed to literate(defining definitions anyone?). The other books: UML 2 in a Nutshell (good reference), Learning UML 2 (excellent introduction and cross-reference for other detailed books) and the 3rd edition of UML Distilled by Martin Fowler (a classic from 1st edition days) -- are the ones that does the job. Table of Contents 1 BackCover 3 UML 2 for Dummies 4 Introduction 7 Some Presumptuous Assumptions 8 How This Book Is Organized 9 Icons Used in This Book 11 Where to Go from Here 12 Part I: UML and System Development 13 Chapter 1: What's UML About, Alfie? 15 Introducing UML 16 Appreciating the Power of UML 17 Choosing the Appropriate UML Diagram 19 Identifying Who Needs UML 24 Dispelling Misconceptions about UML 25 Chapter 2: Following Best Practices 27 Understanding UML Terminology and Concepts 28 Improving Your Productivity 37 Part II: The Basics of Object Modeling 44 Chapter 3: Objects and Classes 45 Recognizing Classes and Objects 46 Naming Objects and Classes 48 Identifying Attributes 50 Performing Operations 54 Diagramming a System's Parts 56 Defining Visibility 60 Chapter 4: Relating Objects That Work Together 63 Showing Static Relationships in a Class Diagram 64 Linking Objects Together 65 Associating Classes 66 Naming Your Associations 67 Relating Many Objects (Multiplicity) 69 Understanding the Roles That Classes Can Play 73 Associating Classes with Themselves 75 Using Association Classes 77 Qualifying Relationships 78 Finding a Way - Navigation 80 Creating a Program 81 Chapter 5: Including the Parts with the Whole 83 Representing the Whole and the Parts 84 Showing Ownership: Composition 87 Showing What Can Be Shared: Aggregation 88 Deciding between Aggregation and Composition 89 Using Alternate Composite Notation 90 Chapter 6: Reusing Superclasses: Generalization and Inheritance 93 Making Generalizations 94 Specializing Classes 97 Using Generalization Sets 99 Inheriting from Ancestors 101 Exploring the Pros and Cons of Multiple Inheritances 107 Reusing Code 109 Chapter 7: Organizing UML Class Diagrams and Packages 110 Modeling Objects and Classes on Diagrams 111 Constructing Class Diagrams 113 Using Project-Oriented Class Diagrams 119 Part III: The Basics of Use-Case Modeling 125 Chapter 8: Introducing Use-Case Diagrams 127 Identifying Your Audience 128 Casting the System's Actors 130 Exposing an Actor's Roles 133 Showing Your System's Use Cases 134 Distinguishing between Internal and External 137 Using Context Diagrams 139 Packaging Use Cases 140 Chapter 9: Defining the Inside of a Use Case 141 Creating a Use-Case Specification 142 Telling the Use-Case Story 144 Indicating Alternative Courses of Behavior 148 Chapter 10: Relating Use Cases to Each Other 153 Linking Use Cases with «include» 154 Using Generalization with Use Cases 158 Extending Use Cases 161 Part IV: The Basics of Functional Modeling 165 Chapter 11: Introducing Functional Modeling 167 Modeling Functions from an Object-Oriented Perspective 168 Writing Text-Based Behavioral Specifications 173 Chapter 12: Capturing Scenarios with Sequence Diagrams 178 Diagramming an Interaction Scenario 179 Composing Interaction Diagrams 187 Chapter 13: Specifying Workflows with Activity Diagrams 195 Ordering the Flow of Behavior 196 Working through Workflow Diagrams 201 Chapter 14: Capturing How Objects Collaborate 206 Developing a Collaboration 207 Constructing the Communication Diagram 212 Conquering Concurrency 217 Capturing the Collaboration's Design 220 Chapter 15: Capturing the Patterns of Behavior 223 Describing Patterns with Collaborations 224 Applying Patterns 228 Framing Frameworks 231 Part V: Dynamic Modeling 234 Chapter 16: Defining the Object's Lives with States 236 Showing the Life of an Object 237 Programming an Object's Memory with State Attributes 244 Creating State Diagrams from Scenarios 247 Chapter 17: Interrupting the States by Hosting Events 251 Making Use of Events 252 Indicating Order of Execution on a Diagram 262 Showing Transitions as Icons 264 Chapter 18: Avoiding States of Confusion 266 Simplifying Large State Diagrams 267 Handling Concurrency with States 275 Building Protocol State Machines 280 Part VI: Modeling the System's Architecture 284 Chapter 19: Deploying the System's Components 286 Defining Your System 287 Constructing Logical Pieces 291 Working with Components 295 Deploying Physical Pieces (Implementation) 301 Chapter 20: Breaking the System into Packages/Subsystems 306 Using Packages and Subsystems 307 Exploring Dependencies 313 Patterning the Relationships 319 Part VII: The Part of Tens 322 Chapter 21: Ten Common Modeling Mistakes 324 Splitting Attributes and Operations 325 Using Too Few or Too Many Diagram Types 328 Showing Too Much Detail 329 Using Vague Terminology 330 Defining the Same Thing Twice 331 Linking Everything Together 332 Creating Too Many Use Cases 333 Completing One Diagram Before Moving On 334 Cycling Around Class Diagrams 335 Not Listening to the User 337 Chapter 22: Ten Useful UML Web Sites 338 Weave a Tangled Web 339 UML Home Page 340 UML Forum 341 UML 2 Submitters 342 OCL Center 343 Magazines and Information Portals 344 Search Engines 345 Tool Sites 346 Training Sites 347 Forums and Groups 348 Miscellaneous Sites 349 Chapter 23: Ten Useful UML Modeling Tools 350 Picking a Tool 351 Argo/UML 353 Cittera 354 Ideogramic UML 355 Objecteering 356 Rational Rose Suite 357 Rhapsody 358 System Architect 359 Tau 360 TogetherSoft 361 Visio 362 Chapter 24: Ten Diagrams for Quick Development 363 Context Diagram 364 Use-Case Diagram 366 Domain Class Diagram 368 Sequence Diagram 369 State Diagram 370 Application Class Diagram 371 Package Diagram 373 Deployment Diagram 374 Communication Diagram 375 Activity Diagram 376 Index 377 Index_A 378 Index_B 382 Index_C 384 Index_D 389 Index_E 393 Index_F 395 Index_G 396 Index_H 397 Index_I 398 Index_J 400 Index_K 401 Index_L 402 Index_M 403 Index_N 405 Index_O 406 Index_P 409 Index_Q 412 Index_R 413 Index_S 414 Index_T 420 Index_U 422 Index_V 425 Index_W 426 Index_X 427 Index_Y 428 Index_Z 429 List of Figures 430 List of Tables 437 List of Listings 439 List of Sidebars 440

• Uses friendly, easy-to-understand For Dummies style to help readers learn to model systems with the latest version of UML, the modeling language used by companies throughout the world to develop blueprints for complex computer systems
• Guides programmers, architects, and business analysts through applying UML to design large, complex enterprise applications that enable scalability, security, and robust execution
• Illustrates concepts with mini-cases from different business domains and provides practical advice and examples
• Covers critical topics for users of UML, including object modeling, case modeling, advanced dynamic and functional modeling, and component and deployment modeling