Learning UML

Paragraphs

A paragraph is a grouping of sentences about a common subject. For example, the English language groups sentences into paragraphs, such as the one you are currently reading. UML paragraphs are diagrams. A diagram is a collection of UML sentences. The elements that make up a diagram are known as diagram elements. For example, all the elements on the figures shown earlier are diagram elements.

The main subject about which we communicate is a system that resides in a domain. A domain, also known as a context, is a broad area of interest that has a generally accepted collection of concepts and their relationships. These concepts are classes, and their relationships are associations; both are known as domain elements. For example, the project management system may be used to manage projects in various industries, including product manufacturing, strategic services, financial services, information technology consulting, and so forth, and each industry is a different domain. Understanding a user’s domain is critical as a launching point for developing a system that the user and other stakeholders (those having a stake or interest in the project) will find useful and valuable.

A system is a collection of elements organized together for a specific purpose. These elements are known as system elements. To understand a system, we focus on its architecture. The architecture of a system involves the elements that make up the system and the way they work together to provide the functionality ...