Chapter 2: Following Best Practices

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Overview

In This Chapter

• Getting to know the object-oriented principles behind UML

• Avoiding vendor hype

• Interpreting the buzzwords

Ever notice how buzzwords seem to sprout like mushrooms whenever experts get their hands on something really useful? The object-oriented ideas that form the foundation of UML started in the 1970s and UML itself got going in 1994, so the experts had plenty of time to come up with complex terms—like abstraction, encapsulation, and aggregation—to confuse the rest of the world. The experts think you already know these terms. Luckily, the meaning behind these words is generally quite simple.

Various vendors have developed a host of rival tools to help you with UML. The experts also went into overdrive coming up with competing methodologies (steps for using UML). These tools and the methodologies are supposed to make you and me more productive. Of course the vendors and the experts assume you already know how to use their tools, understand the meaning of UML diagrams, and know all the buzzwords they’ve come up with in their marketing brochures. In this chapter we cover the terms and other details about UML that everyone assumes you already know.

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