Using UML to Model a Class Diagram

Over the years , many tools and models have been developed to assist in designing classes. One of the most popular tools today is UML. Although it is beyond the scope of this book to describe UML in fine detail, we will use UML class diagrams to illustrate the classes that we build. In fact, we have already used a class diagram in this chapter. Figure 1.11 shows the Person class diagram we discussed earlier in the chapter.

Figure 1.11. The Person class diagram.

Again, notice that the attributes and methods are separated (the attributes on the top, and the methods on the bottom). As we delve more deeply into OO design, these class diagrams will get much more sophisticated and convey much more information on how the different classes interact with each other.