UML Weekend Crash Course⢠- To Parent Directory
UML Weekend Crash Course⢠- To Parent Directory
UML Weekend Crash Course⢠- To Parent Directory
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310<br />
Sunday Afternoon<br />
Repository<br />
A repository is simply a place to store all the work you do in the tool. Most often the repository<br />
is a database. In a few tools, the repository is a proprietary format. This means that<br />
you will be limited to the vendor’s own tools to create reports and do queries. The added<br />
software can be a hidden cost.<br />
Some tools use a relational database, which allows you to augment their reporting features<br />
with standard SQL tools.<br />
Still others use an object database. This can provide some significant productivity<br />
advantages with performance and when working with team development. Object-level<br />
locking allows multiple users to view the same diagram and edit individual elements of the<br />
diagram while others observe the changes.<br />
Code generation<br />
Code generation is one of the big selling features of modeling tools. It is also one of the<br />
biggest sources of skepticism. Modeling tools have had a poor history of code generation,<br />
but the advent of object-oriented programming and object-oriented modeling changed the<br />
problem significantly. Now the diagrams and the code line up so well that there is very little<br />
difference between the two.<br />
The list of languages supported in modeling tools is surprisingly long. The most common<br />
languages include Java, C++, and Visual Basic. Many tools are now supporting Microsoft’s C#<br />
programming language. You will also find CORBA IDL, JavaScript, SmallTalk, C, and Ada,<br />
among others.<br />
One key feature of code generation to be aware of is code markers. A code marker is one<br />
line (or sometimes two lines) of code that identifies where the code fits into the model. It is<br />
generated along with the code. The result is a listing that is two and sometimes three times<br />
longer than you expected. The markers can make the code very difficult to work with. The<br />
upside is that the tools that use this method will often provide an editor that hides the<br />
markers. But then again, you have to use that vendor’s editor.<br />
Most tools have avoided the problem of markers. The result is just the code you wanted<br />
and the freedom to use whatever editor you like.<br />
Integrated editor<br />
Speaking of editors, the situation used to be that you worked either with modeling tools<br />
doing the modeling or you worked with an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) writing<br />
and maintaining code. The line between the two products is becoming blurred. Some<br />
modeling tool vendors have literally built the coding features into the modeling product.<br />
Others have formed partnerships with IDE vendors so that the user (you or I) can move<br />
almost seamlessly between the two. Practically speaking, that’s how it really works. There<br />
are some things best done in a modeling tool and some things best accomplished in an IDE.<br />
One very common situation is the need to define operations. A modeling tool only supports<br />
the operation signature. An editor or IDE is required to add the method to the operation.<br />
Version control<br />
Version control is a fact of life on every project and modeling vendors know it. Most<br />
vendors either provide the version control features in the modeling tool itself or they
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