Unified Modeling Language

Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a standardized visual specification language for object modeling in the field of software engineering.

Overview

Unified Modeling Language is a general-purpose modeling language that includes a graphical notation used to create an abstract model of a system, referred to as a UML model. It consists of:

Structure diagrams: emphasize what things must be in the system being modeled
Behavior diagrams: emphasize what must happen in the system being modeled
Interaction diagrams: a subset of behavior diagrams, emphasize the flow of control and data among the things in the system being modeled.

Unified Modeling Language is officially defined at the w:Object Management Group (OMG) by the w:UML metamodel, a w:Meta-Object Facility metamodel (MOF). Like other Meta-Object Facility-based specifications, Unified Modeling Language has allowed software developers to concentrate more on design and architecture.

Collage of types of diagrams

Separate types of diagrams

A class diagram
A component diagram
A composite structure diagram
A deployment diagram
An object diagram
An activity diagram
A state diagram
A use case diagram
A communication diagram
An interaction overview diagram
A sequence diagram

History

Diagram by Guido Zockoll, 2004
Diagram by Michael Zapf, 2006
Diagram by Axel Scheithauer, 2008
Update by Marcel Douwe Dekker, 2008
Redraw by Chris828, 2009
Update by Marcel Douwe Dekker, 2012

Structure diagrams

Class diagram

A class diagram describes the structure of a system by showing the system's classes, their attributes, and the relationships between the classes. See Category:Class diagrams

Component diagram

A component diagram in the Unified Modeling Language depicts how a software system is split up into components and shows the dependencies among these components. See Category:Component diagrams

Composite structure diagram

Composite structure diagram is describes the internal structure of a class and the collaborations that this structure makes possible. See Category:Composite structure diagrams

Deployment diagram

A deployment diagram serves to model the hardware used in system implementations, the components deployed on the hardware, and the associations between those components.. See Category:Deployment diagrams

Object diagram

An object diagram shows a complete or partial view of the structure of a modeled system at a specific time. See Category:Object diagrams

Package diagram

A package diagram depicts how a system is split up into logical groupings by showing the dependencies among these groupings. See Category:Package diagrams

Behavior diagrams

Activity diagrams

An activity diagram In UML represents the business and operational step-by-step workflows of components in a system. An activity diagram shows the overall flow of control. See Category:UML Activity diagrams

State diagram

A state diagram in UML is a standardized notation to describe many systems, from computer programs to business processes. See Category:UML State diagrams

Use case diagram

A Use Case diagram in Unified Modeling Language shows the functionality provided by a system in terms of actors, their goals represented as use cases, and any dependencies between those use cases. See Category:Use Case diagrams

Interaction diagrams

Communication diagram

A Communication diagram models the interactions between objects or parts in terms of sequenced messages. They represent a combination of information taken from Class, Sequence, and Use Case Diagrams describing both the static structure and dynamic behavior of a system. See Category:UML Communication diagrams

Interaction overview diagram

An interaction overview diagram is a form of activity diagram in which the nodes represent interaction diagrams. See Category:Interaction overview diagrams