Creately Blog Software Teams

Part 1: The ABCs of UML diagramming

Updated on:

Consider this the prequel to Part 1 and Part 2 of what I posted earlier on UML diagrams. I do believe that these posts are perfect in the sense that they would give you the “big picture” of the UML universe. I understand what was posted earlier on may have been complex to a certain degree, which is why this particular post is intended for those who are just getting their hands wet with UML diagramming. So to make it easy to “digest”, I will break this post up into two or possibly three easy-to-understand parts as well.

While earlier we spoke about the types of UML diagrams, let’s concentrate on the building blocks of UML in this post. These building blocks can be defined as (1) Things, (2) Relationships and (3) Diagrams.

(1) Things: These are known to be the most important when it comes to the building blocks of UML. They can be further divided into (a) Structural, (b) Behavioral, (c) Grouping and (d) Annotational.

STRUCTURAL

The static parts of a model are defined as structural things. The latter can be defined as conceptual and physical elements.  These structural things are defined below.

Class:

This defines an object set that possess responsibilities that are similiar.

Interface:


This indicates a set of operations that would detail the responsibility of a class.

 

Use case:

This is representative of a set of actions, which are performed by a system that is goal specific.

Component:

The physical part of a system is defined as this.

Node:
A node is indicated as a physical element, which usually is present during run time.
I hope this post clears up any doubts you may have had regarding the basic tools of UML diagrams. Having finished off the Structural part of UML building blocks in this post, please do stay tuned to Part 2 of this post where I will be detailing parts (b) to (d) of Things.

Join over thousands of organizations that use Creately to brainstorm, plan, analyze, and execute their projects successfully.

Get started here
Download our all-new eBook for tips on 50 powerful Business Diagrams for Strategic Planning.

More Related Articles

Beyond the Basics of Sequence Diagrams: Part 2 10 common mistakes to avoid in sequence diagrams Beyond the Basics of Sequence Diagrams: Part 1 A Basic intro to Use Case Diagrams

Author

Nishadha

Software engineer turned tech evangelist. I handle marketing stuff here at Creately including writing blog posts and handling social media accounts. In my spare time, I love to read and travel.

Comments

  1. Some Benefits & Uses of Wireframes « Creately Blog

    […] flowcharts to UML diagrams, we’ve offered quite a bit of important reading material for you out there. Our last post […]

    18.05.2011 -
    reply
  2. PART 1: 15 mistakes you would unintentionally make with flowcharts « Creately Blog

    […] just finished with Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 on the basics of UML diagramming. We now have a two-part series on Flowcharts. […]

    06.05.2011 -
    reply
  3. Part 3: The ABCs of UML diagramming « Creately Blog

    […] post in this series, which was first kicked off last week. Just to remind you where we left off in Part 1; we talked about various UML building blocks, such as Things and what it encompasses. Things are […]

    04.05.2011 -
    reply
  4. Part 2: The ABCs of UML diagramming « Creately Blog

    […] promised in the last post, we will be detailing the (b) Behavioral, (c) Grouping and (d) Annotational part of Things in this […]

    03.05.2011 -
    reply

Leave a comment

*
*

8 − five =

Back to top