Conclusion

Finite state machines are a powerful concept for structuring software. UML provides a very powerful notation for visualizing FSMs. However, it is often easier to develop and maintain an FSM by using a textual language rather than diagrams.

The UML state diagram notation is much richer than I have described. There are several other pseudostates, icons, and widgets that you can apply. However, I rarely find them useful. The notation I have described in this chapter is all I ever use.