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Title: UML Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Standard Object Modeling Language, Third Edition by Martin Fowler ISBN: 0-321-19368-7 Publisher: Addison-Wesley Pub Co Pub. Date: 19 September, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $34.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.9 (73 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A great way to get your feet wet!
Comment: I was assigned a problem recently in a C++ Advanced course that required me to quickly obtain exposure to the UML. I used Amazon to find this book. On month later I have read four books on the UML and have two more books waiting on my office shelf! I am extremely fascinated by the UML and recommend all software engineers look into its use. I highly recommend Martin Fowler's UML Distilled for engineers who have no previous modeling exposure. It is a fast way to get your feet wet and obtain a high-level overview. After reading this book you might consider the path I forged for myself:
1) UML Distilled by Martin Fowler 2) UML Toolkit by Hans-Erik Eriksson & Magnus Penker (* includes a CD-Rom with Rational Rose 4.0 demo). A great second book! You can also obtain a free UML Modeling tool by TogetherSoft.
3) The Unified Modeling Language User Guide by Booch, RumBaugh and Jacobson. A GREAT book and definite read, however I would not recommend it as your first if you are new to modeling (as I am). I was extremely impressed by Grady Booch's writing skill. He infused me with a love for modeling. (I also intend to read his other books.) As a parent I enjoyed his comments regarding teen age daughters in addition to the fine art of dog house construction.
4) Real-Time UML: Developing Efficient Objects for Embedded Systems by Bruce Powel Douglass. A SUPERB book! I am just finishing it. I was impressed with the author's extensive real-time knowledge and appreciative of his ability to communicate it so clearly to interested readers. I found his dry sense of humor entertaining and intend to look into the Dave Barry reference. I only wish I had time to immediately sit down and read his second real-time book "Doing Hard Time". It is however waiting on my office shelf.
Thanks to all the authors sited. Good luck to you on your discovery of the UML.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent introduction to UML
Comment: I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning the UML. It is by no means a complete coverage, and should not be the only book on your reading list, but should be the first. Fowler does an excellent job of presenting the big picture of the UML and how it is applied in the real world. I found his use of his own experiences applying the UML to customer problems very helpful.
The book itself is very well written, with clear examples of the topics being described. The strongest trait of this book is its ability to quickly (the book is less that 200 pages) give the reader a basic working knowledge of the UML.
If you are an engineer looking to learn the UML, start with this book to get a high level view of the UML, then move on to a more in-depth book. If you are a project manager, this is a great tool for you to have a working understanding of what your design team is doing with the UML.
Rating: 4
Summary: Good introduction
Comment: Fowler has done a very good job of introducing UML - this is the book I recommend to beginners. He goes over all the main categories of UML diagrams showing what they mean and usually how they relate to actual code.
This is, by intent, a very brief book about a very large topic. Part of its value is in giving the quick tour without dragging the reader through the thousands of pages of OMG specifications. That means a lack of rigor, reinforced by the informal writing style - all very approriate to an introduction.
The UML can be intimidating in its mass and in the level of detail it prescribes. Fowler cuts through all that very well. Best of all, he keeps a slightly skeptical tone. The UML is a tool, meant to serve the developer. It is not intended to take over the development process, so don't let it.
There are just two things I wish this book decribed better. First is the unification problem. The UML offers dozen or so different representations of different aspects of a program's structure and behavior. The question is, how do I get all those representations to relate to each other so it's clear that they describe the same thing? The complete answer may be too long for this book, but this isn't a book about complete answers. A few more clues would have strengthened the discussion.
Second is the discussion of state diagrams. It's a concept that beginners seem to stumble over: what do states really model? The best answer I know is that it describes situations where one input elicits different responses at different times, in different operating modes. The number keys on an ATM keypad are an example: first they represent the PIN, then they choose the banking operation to perform, then they may represent the numeric dollar amount of a transaction. Fowler just says to use state diagrams for "interesting behavior."
It's a good intro to UML with a good (though aging) bibliography. It should not be your only book on UML, but never meant to be. Beginners get a gentle start to a tough topic. Seasoned users can jog their memories on fine points of notations they haven't used in a while. This book really is for everyone.
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Title: Design Patterns by Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John Vlissides ISBN: 0201633612 Publisher: Addison-Wesley Pub Co Pub. Date: 15 January, 1995 List Price(USD): $54.99 |
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Title: Applying UML and Patterns: An Introduction to Object-Oriented Analysis and Design and the Unified Process (2nd Edition) by Craig Larman ISBN: 0130925691 Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR Pub. Date: 13 July, 2001 List Price(USD): $52.00 |
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Title: Writing Effective Use Cases by Alistair Cockburn ISBN: 0201702258 Publisher: Addison-Wesley Pub Co Pub. Date: 15 January, 2000 List Price(USD): $39.99 |
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Title: The Unified Modeling Language User Guide by Grady Booch, James Rumbaugh, Ivar Jacobson ISBN: 0201571684 Publisher: Addison-Wesley Pub Co Pub. Date: 30 September, 1998 List Price(USD): $54.99 |
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Title: Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler, Kent Beck, John Brant, William Opdyke, Don Roberts ISBN: 0201485672 Publisher: Addison-Wesley Pub Co Pub. Date: 28 June, 1999 List Price(USD): $54.99 |
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