D: Introduction to UML

Unified modeling language (UML) is the industry standard for diagrams visualizing class hierarchies, subsystem interactions, sequence diagrams, and so on. UML defines the following collection of types of diagrams: structural UML diagrams; and behavioral UML diagrams. Structural UML diagrams include class diagram, component diagram, composite structure diagram, deployment diagram, object diagram, package diagram, and profile diagram. Behavioral UML diagrams include activity diagram, communication diagram, interaction overview diagram, sequence diagram, state diagram, timing diagram, and use case diagram. Because this book only uses class diagrams, that is the only type of diagram that is discussed in this chapter. Class diagrams are used to visualize individual classes and the relationships between different classes. A class is represented in UML as a box with a maximum of three compartments, containing the following: the name of the class; the data members of the class; and the methods of the class.