Why We Use UML

Our team has experienced great success with visual modeling based on the Unified Modeling Language. I am not going to define UML nor describe its origin in any detail, – you can review the UML section of our Leveraging UML as a Standard Notation for Enterprise Architecture presentation for that – but instead focus on what we perceive to be the foundation benefits of choosing UML as our “go to” diagramming notation.

UML is an industry standard modeling notation,which provides foundational benefits:

1. We have the potential of handing your diagram to someone who already knows how to interpret the notation without being told.
2. We (and our audience) can find books, training, articles, web sites, and other educational and support resources for UML.
3. There has been widespread tool adoption of UML, from drawing tool templates to repository based modeling tools to integrated development environments.
4. We and many of your stakeholders can increase personal market value by mastering the notation – don’t forget to tell them that!
5. We can hire people who know how to read and write UML diagrams without requiring training.

UML is a very structured notation. The specific structure brings benefits:

1. The precise structure of the diagrams assists with consistency, completeness, and scope. Recasting your architectural vision into a predefined structure forces you to ask the right questions and flesh out the appropriate details.
2. The fact that it is a structured notation makes it possible for tool vendors to provide functionality to transform a diagram from one view to another or even to code.

UML evolved out of industry best practices in diagramming and has evolved and been refined for 10+ years. There is always value in experience.

Try it, you’ll like it!

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