UML Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Standard Object Modeling Language, Third Edition

Unified Modeling Language Reference Manual, The (2nd Edition) (Addison-Wesley Object Technology Series)

The Unified Software Development Process

Applying UML and Patterns : An Introduction to Object-Oriented Analysis and Design and Iterative Development (3rd Edition)

Uml

Unified Modeling Language User Guide, The (2nd Edition) (Addison-Wesley Object Technology Series)

Format: Hardcover
Author: Grady Booch
ReleaseDate: 19 May, 2005
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Rating:

Misleading tutorial on UML 2.0
0, which are extensive, as I found the OMG specification nearly impenetrable. I picked up this book as a way to familiarize myself with the changes to UML in UML 2. I had liked the first edition, though I too felt Fowler's Distilled was a much better intro to give to students and engineers learning UML for the first time. This edition, though, does not meet expectations. The typos and bad references throughout are bad enough. Join that with a complete lack of real-world design examples, poor organization, and poor design. Why a chapter on State Machines and a separate chapter on State Diagrams that repeats a lot of the earlier chapter? The blue cross references make it clear that the book is spaghetti design at its worst. Check out the table of contents, you won't know where to look for your favorite diagrams; check out the index, and you won't be able to find the definition of the concept you just can't quite remember. The glossary is useful, as the UML 2. 0 spec dispensed with a glossary, making it even more impenetrable. On the other hand, the authors make no attempt to call out the new UML 2. 0 features, which would have made my day. What I find most unforgivable, though, is the authors' inability to present the new UML as it really is: the book is seriously misleading in many ways for learning UML 2. 0. My biggest peeve is the way they treat the new and highly useful composite structure diagrams. In the list of diagrams, they don't even mention it, calling it by the name of a different diagram, the "Component Diagram", which they feel is the same thing. They then separate the discussion of composite classes and components, making it seem as though they're totally unrelated. They fail to mention quite a few of the new UML features (the X navigation adornments that make non-navigability explicit, for example, which is critical to code generation, or the fact that you can have multiple stereotypes associated with model elements. In their defense, the UML standard isn't very clear on these diagram types, but this is a practical tutorial that should take practice into account. There are constant references to the Reference Guide for more advanced features; these are mostly the UML 2. 0 features that they didn't feel were important enough to include in the comprehensive tutorial. The appendix on UML notation simply ignores many UML 2. 0 notations. I can't help but feel shortchanged.

Hi Mr. Book Disposal
If you take a look at those future chapters, there will be notes on the side telling you to go back to Chapter 1 or to other chapters. Start reading Chapter 1 of this book for even just the first few pages, and for various topics, it will say to go to future Chapters. You can run into infinite loops or dead ends not really picking up anything. It is possible to maybe find what you were looking for, or find that the explanation for it is just not sufficient.

If I'm trying to look for a topic to remember, this book is not an easy read with the index either. If you look up some topics in the index and go to all the pages listed, it may not list all the important pages. Sometimes, when I had to look for information on something, say a "use case" for instance, then I'd look that topic up in the index. I'd go to all the different pages listed in the index and it might not be what I was looking for. Then I'd have to look at the side of the page of usually the lowest or 2nd lowest numbered page listed by the indexed topic, and go to the Chapter(s) listed. When I went to those chapter(s) I'd still have to scour the entire chapter(s) until I might find what I was looking for. An example was when I was trying to understand what one of the diagram types was, a "state diagram" I believe it was, as compared to say an "activity diagram. " Sometimes I would find out that things just weren't worded well if in there at all, and I'd have to refer to another UML book.

This book may have some good use, but I haven't found that yet. It's hard to read and hard to look things up, and hard to learn from if you don't already know much or anything that is for sure.

Do not buy this book for UML learning

The book is good as a reference. This was a Text Guide in my OO Design class. Remember a User Guide is just an atomic explanation of each concept, it won't tell you how the whole thing works.

The book will explain you what a sequence diagram, a class diagram is, what is definition of interface, subsystem and so for. But the key on learning UML is how all these diagrams,models, subsystems and packages are applied? and in which order they must be developed? and when to use them?.
If you face a project, the book will be useless, why? Because it won't tell you that you first obtain you sequence diagrams from you specs requirements so you can obtain your class diagrams by discovering classes on them using a Boundary Controller Entity method or any other method. No technique is explained in this book.

The examples are simplistic and lack of real world application.



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