Книга: Embedded Linux development using Eclipse

8.1 UML

UML (Unified Modeling Language) is a mechanism for expressing the constructs and relationships of complex systems, in particular software systems. More specifically, it is a graphical notation that can be used to describe the various models of a software system.

Some of the ways UML is useful include:

• Requirements capture

• Expressing system concepts as classes

• Understanding how objects interact with each other in specific scenarios

• Characterizing the life cycle of objects by identifying the various states to which an object can transition

• Organizing classes into packages and subsystems

• Depicting the deployment of components in a final system

The UML 2.x  specifications[10] define 13 types of diagrams that are split into three categories:

• Structural diagrams. Identify the objects in the model:

 ? Class diagram

 ? Component diagram

 ? Composite structure diagram

 ? Deployment diagram

 ? Object diagram

 ? Package diagram

• Behavior diagrams. Describe what must happen in the system being modeled:

 ? Activity diagram

 ? State machine diagram

 ? Use case diagram

• Interaction diagrams. A subset of Behavior diagrams, these emphasize the flow of control and data among the objects in the model:

 ? Communication diagram

 ? Interaction overview diagram

 ? Sequence diagram

 ? Timing diagram

Clearly then, the role of an Eclipse UML plug-in is to facilitate creating these diagrams and documenting the properties associated with them. UML is not tied to any specific programming language or software development methodology, although it is very much object-oriented and thus is a natural fit for Java and C++.

This chapter can only skim the surface of UML itself. The objective here is to show how a UML editor works in the context of Eclipse. The Resources section at the end of the chapter lists some resources for UML.

It should be noted that issues of modeling are also being addressed by the Eclipse organization itself through the Eclipse Modeling Framework project (EMF). EMF is described as a modeling framework and code generation facility for building tools and other applications based on a structured data model. For the time being anyway, EMF is primarily oriented toward Java programmers and so may not be particularly useful for embedded developers.

Оглавление книги