UML Course Expectations

This course uses a number of interactive features to help you learn the material.

Throughout the course, you will find multiple-choice quizzes and hands-on exercises. These learning checks will allow you to assess what you have learned and, if necessary, what to go back and review.

Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagrams are robust visual tools used across different fields in the software industry to depict systems and processes. UML diagrams help in visualizing, specifying, constructing, and documenting various aspects of a system. They serve as a blueprint for complex system development. Below are several notable applications of UML diagrams:

1. System Design and Development: UML diagrams are used by software engineers during the system design phase. They help to visualize and understand the architecture of the system, including its components and their interactions. Class diagrams, component diagrams, and deployment diagrams are typically used in this context.
2. Database Design: In the realm of database design, UML diagrams such as class diagrams can be used to model the data structure, including the relationships between different data entities. This assists in the creation of a robust and efficient database.
3. Business Process Modeling: Business analysts often use UML diagrams like activity diagrams and sequence diagrams to model business processes and workflows. These diagrams help in understanding the business requirements and improving the efficiency of business operations.
4. Software Debugging: Developers use UML diagrams to debug software issues. The diagrams provide a visual representation of the software and its components, making it easier to identify and fix problems. Sequence diagrams and state diagrams are commonly used for debugging.
5. Software Documentation: UML diagrams provide an easy and clear way to document software projects. These diagrams present a bird's eye view of the system's structure and behavior, aiding in understanding the system and improving maintainability. Use-case diagrams, sequence diagrams, and class diagrams are often employed for documentation.
6. Real-time Systems: For designing real-time systems, UML diagrams like timing diagrams and interaction overview diagrams are used. These diagrams help to visualize the interactions and timing constraints of the system, which is crucial in real-time systems development.
7. Object-Oriented Analysis and Design (OOAD): UML diagrams are the mainstay in OOAD because they can model object-oriented concepts effectively. Class diagrams and object diagrams are especially useful here, as they can visualize the system in terms of objects, their attributes, and relationships.
8. System Interaction: Sequence diagrams, collaboration diagrams, and communication diagrams are employed to understand and depict the interaction between various parts of a system. These diagrams visualize the sequence of interactions and cooperation among components, providing a comprehensive view of system behavior.
9. Testing and Validation: UML state diagrams and activity diagrams are widely used in the testing phase. They help identify different states of a system and the transitions between these states, enabling testers to create comprehensive test cases.

UML diagrams are an integral part of the software development process. They provide a standardized method for visualizing and understanding complex systems, aiding in design, development, debugging, documentation, and testing. UML diagrams are valuable not only in software engineering but also in related fields like business analysis and database design. They contribute significantly to enhancing efficiency and clarity in system development tasks.

The Slide Show and Carousel present a series of images that you can flip through, either forward or backward.
In this course, we will be using Slide Show to illustrate some of the UML elements and diagrams.

This course presents each concept in the UML specification with an introduction that assumes no prior knowledge and progresses through a complete description of its advanced application, while pointing out the changes from UML 1.4 to UML 2.0. For example, the Class diagram includes a number of modeling elements and each element is explained from the basics to the complete specification. Next, the entire Class diagram is explained, using the individual modeling elements together to build a complete example.
Many concepts at times come together, as in the relationships between Class diagrams and Sequence diagrams. Furthermore, the course presents an introduction to the basic relationships and their consequences and proceeds with a complete description of how those relationships might play out in your software modeling process.
The first few modules provide an introduction and later modules cover more advanced topics. I believe that you will find the approach in "UML Fundamentals" most effective for this particular subject. You will quickly be able to recognize the presentation pattern. As you become accustomed to the approach, you can choose to skip over sections that you might already be familiar with and focus on the new material that is most useful to you. This course will provide you with both an appreciation for the usefulness of the software modeling resources of UML and a working knowledge of the potential that these tools and concepts have for improving the way you build software.

Many of the terms used in the course are defined in a JavaScript glossary. The terms appear in the lesson text in the individual modules. Clicking a glossary term opens a small window with the definition. At that time, you can also choose to view the entire course glossary. In addition, glossary links for key terms appear in each module conclusion lesson. In the next lesson, you will learn how to create and submit course exercises.