Penguin Acrostic Poem

When I use a UML diagrams?

My experience with UML can almost count on one hand. In the vocational school, we learned a few diagrams using several practical examples. In project business, they are sometimes used, sometimes not. That leaves me quite some time now one question: When do I put

a UML diagrams?

The answer to this question I have now been found in the book Agile Principles, Patterns and Practices in C # (highly recommended). Robert C. Martin, Micah Martin and believe that no strict guidelines should be made by regulations for the use of UML.


charts are drawn, if:

• multiple people to simultaneously push for a project and need the understanding of a specific part or the whole system.


• rule inconsistencies in the team, because you do not is united with a specific design. Here you should record in a small discussion group, the charts and discuss the discrepancies, make changes and re-discuss it until a satisfactory decision is taken.


• you want to play with a design idea. Diagrams are good tools to think through the ideas until you have the corresponding code in mind.


• give someone needs to explain some of the code. In some cases, charts are for a better understanding. You should stop at the point at which the code is more meaningful than the chart.


• , the project draws to an end and the customer wants some diagrams as part of the documentation.

charts should not be drawn if:

• the process specifies this.


• you get the feeling that only good designers Should draw diagrams. Good designers draw diagrams and write code only when necessary.


• it is a goal to write in the design phase, comprehensive documentation that pretend to write the entire code. Such documents usually have a small benefit, and require an enormous amount of work time.


• so different employees, the coding is required. Good software architects to actively participate by implementing their own design through code.

these points seem to me entirely plausible and have answered my question satisfactorily. If you work a long time in practice, you probably get a feel for yourself. But for people like me who know UML most part only of the theory in school, these tips are very helpful for the work in practice.