Customer Reviews

UML Distilled: Applying the Standard Object Modeling Language

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Short and to the point. A good working guide if you know OO programming. Examples are clear but not too detailed. If you are into the high ceremony, fill out every form, type of design documentation this book won't be detailed enough for you. If you are a working programmer who wants good ways to think about and communicate your software designs - this is the book for you.

In our company we give it to all programmers we hire as an introduction to the design documentation techniques used within the company.

As the title states, this book gives you the essence of the Unified Modeling Language (UML). But you should already be familiar with the concepts of Object Orientation, inorder to get the most from this book.

Fowler (with contributions by Scott) gives quick and concise instructions on using the UML replete with example diagrams and example code. His style is wonderfully engaging and easy to approach. I found myself able to draw use cases, classes, activity diagrams, and more in almost no time.

Fowler sized the book on the small side (under 200 pages), yet gives a complete if sometimes merely cursory introduction to all of the components of the UML. After digesting its contents, I found myself wanting more details, particularly on a process to go with the UML diagramming. Despite the small size, Fowler finds space to include mention on related OOA&D issues, such as CRC cards, design patterns, and design-by-contract.

The book suffers from one drawback, which is more than likely not the fault of its authors: the typesetting is terrible. Sudden font changes in the figures and in the text, the use of prime symbols interchangeably with apostrophes (sometimes in the same paragraph), overlapping lines in figures, and a chapter introduction element (two lines that aren't quite the same length) are examples of some of the problems.

Luckily, it's easy to overlook the poor typesetting and focus on the substantive information that Fowler presents, which is of superior quality.

In UML Distilled, Martin Fowler and Kendall Scott manage what many others have failed to do: present a concise, eminently readable summary of the notation of Object Modeling. This is a relatively short and easily digestable tome. In it, Fowler & Scott walk through the basic notation styles of UML, and give you a good sense of when and where they can be usefully applied.

One of the things that I appreciate about this little gem is that is does not pretend to be more than it is. The Principal author speaks from his experience, states his opinions and provides a solid set of references for more in depth reading. He never claims to have all the answers or even that there is one set of right answers. Given the frequently dogmatic tone of modeling discussions, it was a refreshing change.

This is a quick read (only a couple of hours) yet the material is presented in such a way as to allow it to be easily used as a reference. This book is an excellent example of the 80/20 rule: you will learn 80% of what you need to know in about 20% of the time.

This book outlines the minimum understanding needed in order to design in UML. This book is not sufficient to replace the UML standard (which can be obtained from www.rational.com), but it does make it more accessible. The book is also a good recap of some fundamental OO concepts, which were re-thought in order to add formalism to the UML. Good sections on activity diagrams and patterns

Funny how many people do not either read or understand the purpose of a book. UML Distilled was just what I was looking for, a short overview of UML for people who understand a bit about OO. It also has suggestions of other books for further study.

I think it's all according to what you are looking for in a book. I was looking for an easy-to-read book that gave me an overview of the UML notation, relationships with other pre-UML notations, and where & when to apply the diagrams defined in UML.

I got exactly what I was looking for, and was happy to find it. Good job!

Reading alot of author comments on "I think ..." and "I can't go into details ..." makes the book very hard to understand. New terms like "ceremony, inception, eloboration" just add more confusion, and doesn't help one understand the UML."

UML Destilled delivers exactly what it promises. It gives a no-nonsense overview of UML in less than 200 pages, also touching into related areas like CRC cards and Patterns.

The book lack a bit in depth, but then again, it never tries to give the impression otherwise. An excellent introduction.

This book is one seasoned developer's guided tour of UML. After giving a bit of background on UML's genesis, Fowler outlines the sort of development process that UML was designed to support. Unlike most such discussions, this one is both readable and level headed; Fowler clearly has a lot of experience with real-world projects, and considers "doability" much more important than ideology. In each chapter, Fowler describes a single aspect of UML, such as its activity diagrams or case notation, and shows how it should be used and how it fits into the overall development process. The examples are easy to follow, the diagrams are clear, and the author's enjoyment of his work comes through again and again.