How to Explain the UML


The one true test of your understanding of any concept comes when you must explain it to someone unskilled in the art. For those of us who deal daily in technology, the most maddening variant of this challenge is to transmit your understanding to civilians, that is, other intelligent people who have little or no background in technology. The reason this is so difficult is that you cannot fall back on technical jargonthe shorthand that permits high-bandwidth communication with peers, while at the same time presenting a barrier to those unfamiliar with the lingo.

In fact, I have found that software people have difficulty explaining the nuances of their craft to other engineering professionals. On a trip to China, I needed to explain the UML (Unified Modeling Language) and its significance to technical managers who were not software professionals themselves. I had not anticipated that this would be a problem, but when I first mentioned "UML," I got nothing but blank stares. Before I could advance, I needed to get them grounded in the UML. But how?

What follows is the 10-minute presentation I improvised and subsequently polished. When we're done, there's a neat irony that wraps up the tale.




The Software Development Edge(c) Essays on Managing Successful Projects
The Software Development Edge(c) Essays on Managing Successful Projects
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2006
Pages: 269

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