UML Package Diagram

For our sample application, Time Expression, we will use the prefix com.visualpatterns.timex for our package name.

If you have worked with Java already, you probably know that the first part of the package name is typically tied to an organization's domain name, just used backwards. For example, com.visualpatterns is the reverse for visualpatterns.com, which happens to be my website. The timex portion of our package name is derived from the name of our sample application. The remainder, the suffixes, for our package names are shown in Figure 3.6, a rudimentary UML package diagram.

Figure 3.6. UML package diagram for Time Expression.

Note

I have chosen very basic Java packages names to match our MVC pattern-based design. For example, we could have called our model package something like domain, but I prefer to match things upfor example, matching the package names with the architecture or application flow map. That way, someone new taking over my code can easily follow its organization. So, a fully qualified package name for the model package would be com.visualpatterns.timex.model.

As you might guess, the controller package will have controller-related classes in it. The job package will contain our email reminder job. The util package contains common and/or utility code.

Last but not least, the test package will contain our unit test code. Although I have chosen to place our test classes in a separate package, many developers prefer keeping the test classes in the same directory as the implementation code they are testing. This is a matter of preference, but in my opinion, having a separate package/directory for the test classes keeps things nice and clean in the actual implementation package directories.