Product Description

“If you are a serious user of UML, there is no other book quite like this one. I have been involved with the UML specification process for some time, but I still found myself learning things while reading through this book—especially on the changes and new capabilities that have come with UML.”

         —Ed Seidewitz, Chief Architect, IntelliData Technologies Corporation

The latest version of the Unified Modeling Language—UML 2.0—has increased its capabilities as the standard notation for modeling software-intensive systems. Like most standards documents, however, the official UML specification is difficult to read and navigate. In addition, UML 2.0 is far more complex than previous versions, making a thorough reference book more essential than ever.

In this significantly updated and expanded edition of the definitive reference to the standard, James Rumbaugh, Ivar Jacobson, and Grady Booch—the UML’s creators—clearly and completely describe UML concepts, including major revisions to sequence diagrams, activity models, state machines, components, internal structure of classes and components, and profiles. Whether you are capturing requirements, developing software architectures, designing implementations, or trying to understand existing systems, this is the book for you.

Highlights include:

• Alphabetical dictionary of articles covering every UML concept
• Integrated summary of UML concepts by diagram type
• Two-color diagrams with extensive annotations in blue
• Thorough coverage of both semantics and notation, separated in each article for easy reference
• Further explanations of concepts whose meaning or purpose is obscure in the original specifications
• Discussion sections offering usage advice and additional insight into tricky concepts
• Notation summary, with references to individual articles
• A hyperlinked version of the book in Adobe Reader format on CD-ROM, an excellent resource for browsing or searching the text for specific information
• An enhanced online index available on the book’s web site allowing readers to quickly and easily search the entire text for specific topics

The result is an indispensable resource for anyone who needs to understand the inner workings of the industry standard modeling language.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #341956 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 752 pages

From the Publisher
A definitive description of UML from its original developers
The Unified Modeling Language (UML) has rapidly become the standard notation for modeling software-intensive systems. This book provides the definitive description of UML from its original developers--James Rumbaugh, Ivar Jacobson, and Grady Booch. Whether you are capturing requirements, developing a software architecture, designing the implementation, or trying to understand an existing system, this is the book for you.

The majority of the book is a unique alphabetical list of articles covering every aspect of UML in a form convenient for quick reference and detailed study. This format permits full coverage of UML details as well as high-level articles without confusing the reader by constant shifts in level. The first part of the book--a complete summary of UML concepts organized by subject area--provides an introduction to UML for the newcomer as well as entry points into the detailed articles.

From the Back Cover

“If you are a serious user of UML, there is no other book quite like this one. I have been involved with the UML specification process for some time, but I still found myself learning things while reading through this book—especially on the changes and new capabilities that have come with UML.”

         —Ed Seidewitz, Chief Architect, IntelliData Technologies Corporation

The latest version of the Unified Modeling Language—UML 2.0—has increased its capabilities as the standard notation for modeling software-intensive systems. Like most standards documents, however, the official UML specification is difficult to read and navigate. In addition, UML 2.0 is far more complex than previous versions, making a thorough reference book more essential than ever.

In this significantly updated and expanded edition of the definitive reference to the standard, James Rumbaugh, Ivar Jacobson, and Grady Booch—the UML’s creators—clearly and completely describe UML concepts, including major revisions to sequence diagrams, activity models, state machines, components, internal structure of classes and components, and profiles. Whether you are capturing requirements, developing software architectures, designing implementations, or trying to understand existing systems, this is the book for you.

Highlights include:

• Alphabetical dictionary of articles covering every UML concept
• Integrated summary of UML concepts by diagram type
• Two-color diagrams with extensive annotations in blue
• Thorough coverage of both semantics and notation, separated in each article for easy reference
• Further explanations of concepts whose meaning or purpose is obscure in the original specifications
• Discussion sections offering usage advice and additional insight into tricky concepts
• Notation summary, with references to individual articles
• A hyperlinked version of the book in Adobe Reader format on CD-ROM, an excellent resource for browsing or searching the text for specific information
• An enhanced online index available on the book’s web site allowing readers to quickly and easily search the entire text for specific topics

The result is an indispensable resource for anyone who needs to understand the inner workings of the industry standard modeling language.

About the Author

Dr. James Rumbaugh is one of the leading object-oriented methodologists. He is the chief developer of the Object Modeling Technique (OMT) and the lead author of the best-selling book Object-Oriented Modeling and Design. Before joining Rational Software Corporation in October 1994, he worked for more than 25 years at General Electric Research and Development Center in Schenectady, New York.

He has been working on object-oriented methodology and tools for many years. He developed the DSM object-oriented programming language, the state tree model of control, the OMT object modeling notation, and the Object Modeling Tool graphic editor. The foundations for the OMT notation were developed more than 10 years ago with Mary Loomis and Ashwin Shah of Calma Corporation. The OMT methodology was developed at GE R&D Center with coauthors Mike Blaha, Bill Premerlani, Fred Eddy, and Bill Lorensen.

Dr. Rumbaugh received his Ph.D. in computer science from MIT. During his Ph.D. research under Professor Jack Dennis, Dr. Rumbaugh was one of the inventors of data flow computer architecture. His career has dealt with semantics of computation, tools for programming productivity, and applications using complex algorithms and data structures. Dr. Rumbaugh has published journal articles on his work and has spoken at leading object-oriented conferences. He writes a regular column for the Journal of Object-Oriented Programming.

Dr. Rumbaugh is the lead author of the recent best-selling book Object-Oriented Modeling and Design, published by Prentice Hall. His latest book, OMT Insights: Perspectives on Modeling from the Journal of Object-Oriented Programming, was released in October 1996. He and his colleagues developed the OMT methodology described in the book based on real-world applications at GE, and they have worked to extend the original methodology. He has taught courses based on the methodology to different audiences around the world, ranging from one-hour seminars to intensive several-day training courses.

He has a B.S. in physics from MIT, an M.S. in astronomy from Caltech, and a Ph.D. in computer science from MIT.

During his career at GE, he worked on a variety of problems, including the design of one of the first time-sharing operating systems, early work in interactive graphics, algorithms for computed tomography, use of parallel machines for fast image generation, VLSI chip design, and finally, object-oriented technology.

Jim developed OMTool, an interactive graphical editor for manipulation of object model diagrams. The editor is commercially available. In addition, he led a five-year programming effort producing production-quality software.

In addition, Jim was the manager of the Software Engineering Program at GE, where he led a team of eight to ten Ph.D. and M.S. scientists performing research in software engineering in the areas of algorithm development, programming languages, program proving, and VLSI computer-aided design. In addition, he performed personal research.

Jim developed Chipwright, an interactive graphical CAD system for VLSI layout with incremental design rule checking. He also led a team of four programmers in implementation.

Jim developed and implemented the object-oriented language DSM, combining object-oriented concepts with database concepts and distributed it within GE for use on production applications. The language was heavily used at Calma Corporation and was extensively extended based on user feedback with a preliminary version.

Jim also developed Vista, a hierarchical interactive standard graphics system (similar to the PHIGS system) written in the object-oriented DSM language. He implemented user-interface applications based on this system, including a configuration-management tool and a user-interface generation tool.

Jim developed the concept of state trees, a structured extension of finite state machines incorporating a new model of object-oriented control. He applied it to the design of user interfaces, and the technique was used as a main aspect of the CHIDE user-interface system developed by colleagues at GE-CRD. Later, it was used in the OMTool object editor.

Jim also developed the Flow Graph System, a generic interactive graphic system for controlling a network of design engineering jobs, including management of multiple versions of data and coordination of information flow among applications. He received a patent on the underlying concepts.

In addition, Jim developed algorithms for the reconstruction of images for computerized tomography using fewer input points and with reduced noise in the reconstructed images. He also developed algorithms for display of three-dimensional images in real time using array processors, and he developed Parallax, a language for programming pipelined array processors.

Jim has served on various committees, including the OOPSLA Program Committee and the TOOLS Program Committee.

Ivar Jacobson, Ph.D., is “the father” of many technologies, including components and component architecture, use cases, modern business engineering, and the Rational Unified Process. He was one of the three amigos who originally developed the Unified Modeling Language. He is the principal author of five best-selling books on these methods and technologies, in addition to being the coauthor of the two leading books on the Unified Modeling Language. Ivar is a founder of Jaczone AB, where he and his daughter and cofounder, Agneta Jacobson, are developing a ground-breaking new product that includes intelligent agents to support software development. Ivar also founded Ivar Jacobson Consulting (IJC) with the goal of promoting good software development practices throughout teams worldwide.

Grady Booch, is the Chief Scientist at Rational Software Corporation and developer of the Booch Method of object-oriented analysis and design. He is also co-developer of the Unified Modeling Language (UML). Widely recognized for these and many contributions in the field, he is a popular speaker at technology conferences around the world. Booch has twice received Software Development magazine's coveted Jolt-Cola Product Excellence Award for his seminal text,Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with Applications.

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Customer Reviews

The official dictionary to UML 2.0
I bought this book while studying a module in Object Oriented Design/Development at University, and I am glad I did.

Let me clear something here, this book is not a user manual to UML, so the reader is expected to be familiar with UML and Object-Oriented technologies.

This book does not teach the reader UML, it describes/defines and explains concepts and technologies in UML 2.0. I may not be wrong at all to call this the official Dictionary to UML 2.0.

I personally had used UML before and was familiar; not an expert by any means but knew my way around.
By consulting this book I was able to precisely choose the correct UML concept and apply it to my rather complex and large system design model.

If I had not consulted this book I would not have been able to craft my design model to the level I did. I am chuffed to bits that I bought it; it helped me so much, although I have not used it much since, its still there when I do need it.

Highly recommend it.

For the advanced amongst you
You wouldnt expect to learn English from a dictionary, and likewise you should not expect to learn the UML from the reference manual. However once you have the concepts and basic grammer of the UML in your head, the reference manual is the definitive guide to how and when to use everything (well unless you wish to look at the OMG controlled standard, but thats just a little on the large side).

The reference manual is now the only UML text that I ever look at, nothing else covers all the intricacies that I need to know.

Surely not a reference manual
Someone using the UML to model, should use the User Guide. I think it the most usefull UML book at the moment. The Reference Manual promises to be more than the User Guide, while, in fact, it delivers less. The Reference Manual is filled with some good explanations about the use of the UML, but beware, it surely is NO reference manual. First, what version of the UML is described? It's not in the book. Second, some (basic) things are not described in the book. Third, the book contains errors. OK, the UML is to difficult to be described in a single book (that's why at this moment you can at least buy 20 books that (suprisingly) all describe about the same portion of the UML), but even basic things are excluded. An example? Try to find the definition of "class attribute" or "class operation". Yes, in fact you can find it, if you're keen enough to look in the index and think that it will probably be listed under "class-scope". But when reading that paragraph, you'll never see how to model class-scope properties. The class operation is modelled somewhere during the discusion of classes, the class attribute is never modelled in the book. I'm using the book for a week now, and I am very disappointed. I'm hardly using it anymore, instead I returned to using the User Guide and the original UML specifications.