The\u00a0Unified Modeling Language<\/b>\u00a0(UML<\/b>) is a general-purpose, developmental,\u00a0modeling language<\/a>\u00a0in the field of\u00a0software engineering<\/a>\u00a0that is intended to provide a standard way to visualize the design of a system.<\/sup><\/p>\n The creation of UML was originally motivated by the desire to standardize the disparate notational systems and approaches to software design. It was developed at\u00a0Rational Software<\/a>\u00a0in 1994\u20131995, with further development led by them through 1996.<\/sup><\/p>\n In 1997, UML was adopted as a standard by the\u00a0Object Management Group<\/a>\u00a0(OMG), and has been managed by this organization ever since. In 2005, UML was also published by the\u00a0International Organization for Standardization<\/a>\u00a0(ISO) as an approved ISO standard.<\/sup>\u00a0Since then the standard has been periodically revised to cover the latest revision of UML.<\/sup>\u00a0In software engineering, most practitioners do not use UML, but instead produce informal hand drawn diagrams; these diagrams, however, often include elements from UML.<\/p>\n UML 2.0 major revision replaced version 1.5 in 2005, which was developed with an enlarged consortium to improve the language further to reflect new experience on usage of its features.<\/sup><\/p>\n Although UML 2.1 was never released as a formal specification, versions 2.1.1 and 2.1.2 appeared in 2007, followed by UML 2.2 in February 2009. UML 2.3 was formally released in May 2010.\u00a0UML 2.4.1 was formally released in August 2011. UML 2.5 was released in October 2012 as an “In progress” version and was officially released in June 2015.<\/sup> Formal version 2.5.1 was adopted in December 2017.<\/p>\n There are four parts to the UML 2.x specification:<\/p>\n Until UML 2.4.1, the latest versions of these standards were:<\/sup><\/p>\n Since version 2.5, the UML Specification has been simplified (without Superstructure and Infrastructure), and the latest versions of these standards are now:<\/sup><\/p>\n It continues to be updated and improved by the revision task force, who resolve any issues with the language.<\/p>\n UML offers a way to visualize a system’s architectural blueprints in a diagram, including elements such as:<\/sup><\/p>\n Although originally intended for object-oriented design documentation, UML has been extended to a larger set of design documentation (as listed above),<\/sup>\u00a0and been found useful in many contexts.<\/sup><\/p>\n UML is not a development method by itself; <\/sup>however, it was designed to be compatible with the leading object-oriented software development methods of its time, for example\u00a0OMT<\/a>,\u00a0Booch method<\/a>,\u00a0Objectory<\/a>\u00a0and especially\u00a0RUP<\/a>\u00a0that it was originally intended to be used with when work began at Rational Software.<\/p>\n It is important to distinguish between the UML model and the set of diagrams of a system. A diagram is a partial graphic representation of a system’s model. The set of diagrams need not completely cover the model and deleting a diagram does not change the model. The model may also contain documentation that drives the model elements and diagrams (such as written use cases).<\/p>\n UML diagrams represent two different views of a system model:<\/sup><\/p>\n UML models can be exchanged among\u00a0UML tools<\/a>\u00a0by using the\u00a0XML Metadata Interchange<\/a>\u00a0(XMI) format.<\/p>\n In UML, one of the key tools for behavior modeling is the use-case model, caused by\u00a0OOSE<\/a>. Use cases are a way of specifying required usages of a system. Typically, they are used to capture the requirements of a system, that is, what a system is supposed to do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UML 2<\/span><\/h4>\n
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Design<\/span><\/h4>\n
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Software development methods<\/span><\/h5>\n
Modeling<\/span><\/h5>\n
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