Introduction

Why This Book?

The Superstructure portion of the UML 2.0 specification with which I've been working is 7811 pages long. (Actually, it's "only" 632 pages long, but the point is that it's big.) This is the document that contains most of the "meat" that comprises the UML. However, the document is rather impenetrable for anyone who's not a "modeling junkie," which is basically why I wrote this book. In other words, I slogged my way through the spec so you don't have to.

The result is a book that's aimed at a somewhat more sophisticated audience than my previous UML book. ^[1] I'm assuming a certain level of knowledge of visual modeling in general; it's probably helpful if you know something about UML 1. x , too, but that's certainly not a requirement. I haven't done any "here's what's new in this version of UML" comparisons ‚ I've just jumped in and taken a fresh look.

Since the UML is, after all, a visual language, there are lots of diagrams. I've offered light supplementary text for most of them; my hope is that the examples I've chosen explain themselves for the most part. Where I have particular expertise over and above what the UML is specific about ‚ discovering classes and writing use case text ‚ I offer what I hope is useful advice. Where I don't have particular expertise ‚ anything related to components , for instance ‚ I provide references to books that I've found helpful over the past several years . (I was actually coauthoring a book on component-based development for a while, but that book has not yet been published. It may come back to life; watch for it in your bookstore!)

I made my living as a technical writer for 16 years, translating complicated subject matter into reader-friendly documents and manuals. Now I earn my keep writing books and working as a trainer and mentor, teaching people about the UML and about the approach to software development that Rosenberg and Scott ^[2] advocate. I'd like to think that this book reflects my experience and ‚ hey, why not? ‚ wisdom.

^[1] Kendall Scott, UML Explained (Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley, 2001).

^[2] Doug Rosenberg with Kendall Scott, Use Case Driven Object Modeling with UML (Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1999).