The status quo of UML and the future development Shao Weizhong Ma Zhiyi Jiang Yanbing
(This article is reproduced from Software Engineering Expert Network
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UML is a modeling language developed based on a variety of object-oriented modeling methods, mainly for the modeling of software-intensive systems. Its evolution can be divided into the following stages according to its nature: the initial stage is the joint action of experts, and the three OO (object-oriented) methodologists combine their respective methods to form UML 0.9. The second stage is the company's joint action, "UML Partner Organization" composed of more than a dozen companies, adds their own opinions to UML, forming UML 1.0 and 1.1, and as a proposal to the OMG application to model language specification. The third stage is the revision and improvement under OMG control, and OMG officially adopted UML 1.1 as a modeling language specification in November 1997, and then established a constant revision and produced UML 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4 versions. UML 1.3 is a more important revision. At present, the major revision phase is being in UML, the goal is to introduce UML 2.0 as a standard proposal submitted to ISO. In a variety of object-oriented modeling genotes, the UML tree has a unified banner that enables system models developed by different vendors to use the same representation to present the same model style. . Moreover, it absorbs a large amount of useful (or may be useful to a portion of the user) from a variety of methods, making it more than the previous method in the scale, and provides the user to do language. Further expand mechanism. UML has also done a lot of work in terms of grammar and semantic definition. Previously, various types of object-oriented methods are usually defined in a relatively simple way to define their modeling concepts, while give process guidance in the main space, discuss how these concepts are developed. UML appears in a gesture of modeling languages, using some techniques in linguistics to define. Although there are many flaws from linguistic perspectives, it is impossible for various model modifications in this regard. Starting from the early versions of UML, they were attached importance to the computer industry. Omg's adoption and large company's support pushed it into actual industrial standards, making it more and more users. It is widely used in the application of fields and various types of system modeling, such as management information systems, communication and control systems, embedded real-time systems, distributed systems, system software, etc. In recent years, it is also used in software re-engineering, quality management, process management, configuration management, etc. And its application is not limited to computer software, but also in non-software systems, such as hardware design, business processing flow, enterprise or institutional structure and behavior modeling. However, UML is constantly criticized while making great success. The criticism from the industry is mainly, it is too large and complicated, the user is difficult to fully, master it, most users actually only use the concept of one less; its many concepts are unclear, the user is confused . Criticism from academic circles mainly target it in theoretical defects and errors, including language architecture, grammar, semantic, etc. At present, many software companies have learned and tried to use UML. Overall, my country's computer community is still quite preliminary on UML, but the degree of worship of it far exceeds Western developed countries. When learning and using UML, when they encounter the same difficulties and confusion as foreign users, they don't have any problems with UML. Therefore, there is almost no voices in China, occasionally, will be submerged immediately, even for some of the most obvious shortcomings and mistakes for UML. In contrast, the discussion and evaluation of UML internationally more objective. Whether it is an opinion exchange on the Internet, or once a year's UML seminar, or the article published by academic journals is both affirming their results, but also points out their shortcomings and errors, and put forward constructive advice at a positive attitude.
