Instant UML [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Pierre-Alain Muller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1997

UML is the Unified Modeling Language, produced in response to the call for a standard notation for the OO application design. UML is a synthesis of Booch, OMT, and OOSE methods. This book is an introduction to the object modeling approach as well as a tutorial in the UML notation and usage. The focus is object oriented modeling: user requirements, analysis, and definition. .

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Instant UML is a handy introduction to the Unified Modeling Language (UML) as well as the fundamentals of software engineering. Though necessarily schematic at points, this handy guide is perfect for those readers with a little design experience under their belts who want to get a handle on UML quickly.

The book first tours the evolution of software engineering with the emergence of the UML standard over the last few years, describing how formerly there were a variety of competing software methodologies until UML became the standard backed by the Object Management Group (OMG) and most big vendors. Alongside this material, the author argues for the necessity of software engineering.

A tour of basic object-oriented concepts follows--from classes and inheritance to collaboration and polymorphism--with UML diagrams to illustrate each concept. Next, the book gives a short and sweet explanation of UML notation, such as class, use case, sequence, collaboration, statechart, and deployment diagrams. (Useful appendices even contain the implementation of UML in several programming languages, including C++ and Java.)

The book proceeds to project lifecycles, comparing the older waterfall approach to software development with today's iterative approach. Instant UML closes with a case study of an access-control system for small building, in which all the relevant UML diagrams are provided. (This sample project is especially good at showing use case diagrams--the "actors" here are the security guards and entrants to the hypothetical building.) In all, this title gives a quick tour in a comprehensible fashion. First published in French, the English translation is perfectly readable and not overladen with jargon. --Richard Dragan

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Wrox Press; 1st edition (November 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861000871
• ISBN-13: 978-1861000873
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,589,245 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book for Experienced OO Programmers, December 11, 2000

By 

Beowulf (Laguna Hills, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Instant UML (Paperback)

Let me put my review in perspective. I have been programming in one language or another for twenty years. I was the project manager for a Fortune 500 company's e-commerce initiative. I do some consulting on the side. In other words, I consider myself to be a veteran programmer.

As you know by now, Wrox books fall somewhere between expert references and trivial introductions. "Instant UML" diverges from this stereotype. It was initially written in French, and then later it was translated into English. The readability of this book suffers as a result. There are many sentences that are either confusing, highly academic and theoretical in nature, or both. I found myself having to re-read several sections to understand them. I suppose I was expecting the content to be a little more watered-down for an "Instant" book.

This misconception on my part may be the result of the content matter: UML is a formal syntax for modeling real-world systems in such a manner that facilitates writing object-oriented software. For me, this topic begot a "chicken or the egg" paradox. Knowing UML should help me to understand the benefits and mechanics of Object Oriented Programming (OOP), but without having a moderate OOP background I couldn't appreciate UML. I actually tried reading this book about a year ago, but gave up after reading the first three chapters. As an aside, there are only five chapters in this book, so that was a reasonable attempt!

Since that time, I have improved my understanding of how to write OO software, and I have returned to this book. I enjoyed reading this book on my second attempt. Therefore my first admonition to the potential reader is that she have at the very least an introductory knowledge of OOP prior to reading this book. Having journeyman knowledge would serve her even better.

The first chapter covers the genesis of UML. It is very short, and for the most part can be skipped. Suffice to say that several OOP gurus were developing their own syntaxes independently, and then did something truly remarkable: they set aside their egos, and decided to unify their efforts. Thus was UML born.

The second chapter is a nice summary of OO features. The first time I read this book, I could grasp the meaning of concepts like inheritance, generalization, containment, and polymorphism, but they were just that: concepts. After having first-hand experience working with those concepts in a program, this chapter had much more significance for me. If you just read those last two sentences, and they described your comfort level with OOP, then you would likely appreciate this book.

The third chapter presents the formal UML notation. It is very straightforward, and thankfully there are many examples. An interesting point to note is that UML is intentionally language non-specific. If you come from a C++, Smalltalk, Java, or even a VB background, you can make use of UML. The notation is meant to be independent from the constructs of the programming language used to implement its diagrams. "Instant UML" maintains its adherence to this principle by remaining wonderfully language-neutral.

The fourth chapter is a lengthy dissertation about object oriented projects. This chapter is a tremendous resource for anyone whose job is tied to professional software development and delivery. I particularly empathized with the section on Risk Management, and its delineation of reasons for software project failure. I was also intrigued by the concept of "patterns." I wish they had been given greater coverage in this book. Still, this chapter on software development is very worthwhile for most software professionals.

The last chapter is a real-life case study that is examined using UML. By this time, I was able to understand the presented drawings. However, I was a bit disappointed that the book remained neutral, and never provided even skeletal class modules to implement some of the diagrams (much less fleshed them out with actual code). This omission is somewhat mitigated by appendices C, D, E, F, and G, which provide these skeletal structures for a variety of programming languages.

"Instant UML" is a good book for the experienced Object Oriented software programmer. I can't stress this point enough. It is not an entry-level introduction to the concepts of OOP. It contains a concise coverage of the UML syntax, and will be a great reference. Its numerous examples are very helpful. If you have the prerequisite OOP experience, and are looking for an explanation of UML, then this is a good place to start.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for advanced readers, September 28, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Vienna, Austria & Warsaw, Poland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Instant UML (Paperback)

A fairly experienced software developer with no previous knowledge of UML may find it the best introduction to the subject. Just as WROX promise, there is no trivial introduction, no attempts at teaching the reader what he/she already knows, and then repeating it four times.

It's concise and to the point, unlike practically all other books on the subject of systems analysis and design, that I had in my hands. At the same time, it manages to give the reader a very clear idea of the concepts behind the pictures. I find the quality of presentation on par with Stroustup's ARM and a few other classics.

This book assumes the reader already knows a lot about systems analysis, but nothing about UML. If this description fits you, it's for you. If you look for an introductory text about systems analysis or OOP, you might need another resource.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Author overviews UML in jargonish abstractions, April 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Instant UML (Paperback)

If you're just now learning object-oriented concepts, then Instant UML will almost certainly befuddle you as the French author tries to cram too many concepts into his abstraction-filled sentences.

If you already have a very strong familiarity with OOP, but want to learn UML notation, you might find the UML treatment useful. But why bother? Just get another book that doesn't spend the first half teaching you what you already know: OOP.

In my quest to learn UML, I bought five books: 1) Instant UML, 2) UML Distilled, 3) Applying Use Cases, and 4) Building Web Applications with UML and 5) The Rational Unified Process. I've read them all.

Instant UML is, by far, the most unrewarding of the group: I spent too much time unraveling his words and not enough time grasping the new-to-me concepts of object-oriented programming.

I agree with the reviewer from Warsaw, but can't help but think that even experienced OOPers appreciate clearer sentence structure.