Modeling languages have been used by system developers for decades to specify, visualize, construct, and document systems; rough sketches using stick figures and arrows and scribbled routing conditions go back still further. But the Unified Modeling Language (UML), for the first time in the history of systems engineering, gives practitioners a common language that applies to a multitude of different systems, domains, and methods or processes. It does not guarantee project success, but enables you to communicate solutions in a consistent, standardized, and tool-supported language. All indications suggest that the industry is rushing to the UML. Created by leading software engineering experts Grady Booch, James Rumbaugh, and Ivar Jacobson (now of Rational Software Corporation), and accepted as a standard by the Object Management Group (OMG) in 1997, the language has already achieved more success than any previous contenders. With a firm conceptual and pragmatic basis, it is well suited to supporting projects in modern languages like C++ and Java. And standardization lays the groundwork for tools as well as standard methods or processes. This book presents the UML, including its extension mechanisms and the Object Constraint Language (OCL), in a clear reference format. For those new to the language, a tutorial quickly brings you to the point where you can use the UML. The book is concise and precise, breaking down the information along clean lines and explaining each element of the language. Introductory chapters also convey the purpose of the UML and show its value to projects and as a means for communication. Topics include:

• The role of the UML in projects
• The object-oriented paradigm and its relation to the UML
• Tutorial with realistic examples
• An integrated approach to UML diagrams
• Class and Object, Use Case, Sequence, Collaboration, Statechart, Activity, Component, and Deployment Diagrams
• Extension Mechanisms
• The Object Constraint Language (OCL)

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UML in a Nutshell Review,  October 13 2002
Submitted by M.E.   [Respond | View]

A so-so book that should not have that many errors in its content.

Too bad ... ORA have not updated the book w/ updated information on UML ...

Check out this book "Guide to Applying the UML" by the same writer.

It is a hardcover. ... Contentwise, it looks like a good book.




UML in a Nutshell Review,  March 08 2001
Submitted by Scott Emmons   [Respond | View]

This book is a very big disappointment. I've always been a big fan of O'Reilly books, but this one proves that not all O'Reilly books are the cat's meow.

It's extremely boring and unpractical, offering absolutely no useful content - I know nothing more about UML after reading it than before, and certainly nothing that I was able to apply to my software engineering.

I usually read technical books from cover to cover, but not with this book!

Fortunately, there are other good books on UML (which I have), and put to use.




UML in a Nutshell Review,  December 16 2000
Submitted by M.E.   [Respond | View]

I don't know why some of the reviwers were complaining about this book. From a reference's point of view, it is a darn good book! ... It was concise and terse enough that I got the job done. Improvement is needed. However, it is a darn good book! ...

Most Nutshell books are technically designed to be a technical references. Correct!? ... If the complainer(s) wants to read something that is complex (Try the uml section pages from Rational.com.) or write one themselves.

... Agreed with previous reader. ... UML Distilled first. Then this book later. ... Look forward to "UML in A Nutshell" (2nd ed.)!


UML in a Nutshell Review,  October 09 2000
Submitted by Umapathy S   [Respond | View]

I am disgusted to see most of the readers (starters) found this book not useful. This book is not a tutorial and more targeted towards experienced people who know actually and did Object Oriented Analysis/Design/Programming (I think the prerequesties are pretty clear). It is very good as a desktop quick reference as it avoided me to go through UML Specification. I think you cant refer to the Three Amigos book all the time. Although the author has his own views, he could have avoided the chapter on Object Orientation.


UML in a Nutshell Review,  March 28 2000
Submitted by Ashley Raiteri   [Respond | View]



I haven't even read the book but I agree with the publisher/editor's postings.
The in-a-nutshell sormat has been GREAT! over the last few years for me. It's missing the point to say that you can't learn UML from the book.
That's not what nutshells are for.
They are like cliff's notes.
You can't really "get" Ulysses by Joyce from the Cliffs notes, it's not very adaptable to the
chapter summary- character description format of
Cliff's Notes, But, Lord of the flies with its simple plot and obvious symbology can easily be summarized and bulleted into a CLiff's Notes format.
If the Nutshell book for UML provides the technical details and implementation reference information needed by Users who are already familiar with the concepts but maybe don't stuff their head full of a memory map's worth of buzzwords and acronyms a nutshell book is a perfect development aid.
I mean, let's face it, a C++ object is a glorified C typedef struct statement, and most of the UML concepts are glorified versions of logic diagrams and flow charts.
OOA & OOD & UML are not some holy kabala like entities/tools, although they can appear that way with the high class terminology used by the Three Amigos. A Nutshell reduction of these terms is just what a hit-and-run developer needs to
survive - what with in the Methodology Elite waging class Warfare against the "old school" engineers who just want to deliver quality product on-time, under budget and with a testable verifiable process that minimizes risks. I mean, let's face it,
Design is not a natural science. Its an
arform and the process of codifying and and enumerating the industry standards for the design process need more "cut-to-the-chase"
guides and less flotsam and jetsom of the higher abstract mumbo-jumbo that a lot of designers like to spout just because they've learned a new jargon.
Thanks Oreilley for all your help over the years.
Learning the jargon for a hot new "paradigm" is 90% of the battle and a very valuable weapon in protecting oneself from the engineers who like to think that knowledge of "paradigm" makes them elite. Most new paradigms are rehashed versions of older ones and can be learned by anyone ina couple of days.
Sorry for the Rant
alr


UML in a Nutshell Review,  February 29 2000
Submitted by Richey Smith   [Respond | View]



My lecturers reccomended a different book for the course I was doing, but after reading the O'Reilly Perl books, I ignored them. The Perl books were superb: informative, insightful, well-paced and enjoyable to read. I can't say whether this book is informative at all, or gives any great insights into UML because I found it impossible to read. Dry and dull. Drier than drinking all the sand in the Sahara and duller than wearing a blindfold during a total eclipse. The author never uses a short word where a long word would do. I lost count of the number of times he mentioned "paradigm". Only marginally more enjoyable than cholera.


UML in a Nutshell Review,  February 19 2000
Submitted by John van Rij   [Respond | View]



It is disappointing to see all the bad reviews this book received. I wonder if this book is reaching the right audience. I believe that most of the bad reviews come from people with little to no experience in UML. Also, don't forget that UML is a concept, a way of thinking. You can learn UML, but that doesn't mean that you understand the full concept. People who are confused, and are lost when they read the bulleted points in this book may write some of the bad reviews.

This book is not for those who are planning on starting to explore UML, or for those who are not comfortable with using the concept. Don't expect to get up and running quickly in UML-based design by reading this book. You have to understand object-oriented analysis and design and the modeling techniques in the UML.

Although the book has editing errors and needs improvement, it is definitely a good reference for anyone with a firm foundation in UML. It is punctual, quick and easy to handle, with coverage of all the concepts.

After UML Distilled (ISBN 0-201-65783-X), this is a good guide to have.



UML in a Nutshell Review,  September 17 1999
Submitted by Piyal Sarkar   [Respond | View]



I have bought the book a few weeks back and
I am not even one-fourth through. Still, as a
software professional and teacher, I do not fully
endorse the viewes of the other readers found in
this site. I have got an Indian edition of the
book and low-priced editions of both the UML
user's guide and reference guide by the
Three Amigoes are also available in India. I do
not think this book can pose any competition to
the Three Amigoes' books. But as a short and quick
reference it should serve some purpose.

The numerous errors however should not be ignored.
Oreilly or no Oreilly, I really do not think that
any good book should contain so many errors. The
errata, which I found today, however, is a good
compensatory effort.


UML in a Nutshell Review,  June 25 1999
Submitted by Tim O'Reilly   [Respond | View]



I am disappointed that so many people have disliked
this book so intensely.

I was not the development editor for the book, but I
was the one who signed the book for publication. I
did so because I'd been trying to read UML Distilled,
and when Sinan's proposal came in, with his bullet-list
format, I found it a much quicker way to absorb the
buzzword barrage that is the price of entry to UML.

Obviously, other people didn't feel the same way (although
I'll note that along with a bunch of terrible reviews, which
echo those posted here, Amazon includes a number of
very complimentary reviews from people who had some UML
experience.

Obviously, if the book doesn't work for you guys,
it doesn't work! In this case at least, the customer
is always right. However, I do want to dispute the
idea that the book was just slapped together. It was
under development for the better part of a year, and
a good chunk of it was written before we even signed
a contract for the book.

I also want to say that Andy Oram, the developmental
editor, had some serious hesitations about the bullet-list
format, but I urged him to go ahead with it. I thought
it was an interesting experiment in how to come up with
an "In a Nutshell" compact reference for such an
abstract topic.

(As those of you who are In a Nutshell fans know, we've
extended the series from books on command-line interfaces
(UNIX in a Nutshell, Linux in a Nutshell) and programming
languages (Java in a Nutshell, Perl in a Nutshell) to all
kinds of other topics.

It hasn't always been easy to map the concept (concentrated
reference) onto material that isn't necessarily
reference oriented. As you'll see, I tried myself with
Windows 95 in a Nutshell and Windows 98 in a Nutshell
to adapt the format to a GUI-based system. I think
those books are really good books, but people from
the Windows world, who find the under-the-hood mindset
foreign, may find them a little difficult.

In a similar way, I wonder if some of the issues with this
book aren't issues with UML. It's definitely a different
way of thinking about software development.

That being said, we clearly haven't established a
reference point or a style that makes sense for a lot of people. We'll have
to go back to the drawing board.


UML in a Nutshell Review,  June 07 1999
Submitted by Yicheng Li   [Respond | View]



The above guys were too nice. Honestly, this book sucked monkeys. The whole book read like the author just took his Powerpoint presentations and cut & pasted them into the book (typos and all). To his credit, the author did seem to know what he's talking about, but his format was just so awkward that he might as well have been speaking French.

This book should not have been published at all. Frankly, it's not worth the money. If you want to learn UML, try reading up on Booch and co.. This book needs to be hacked apart and overhauled by a good editor. Maybe you can condense it to a good desktop reference and sell it for $5.99.




UML in a Nutshell Review,  March 19 1999
Submitted by Gary Hoo   [Respond | View]



Other readers have suggested this book was poorly edited.
I wonder if it was edited at all.

The bullet lists are off-putting. The prosier text in "The
Big Picture" is no better, being pedantic and laden with
unexplained jargon and dense abstractions that I, at least,
couldn't connect to the programming realities I face every
day. I gave up reading midway through that chapter and will
be returning the book shortly.

It's too bad O'Reilly allowed this book to be published in
its current form, as it hurts the company's reputation. I,
for one, will no longer be quite as trusting of its editorial
judgment in future.

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