Re: Getting up to speed on UML (Was: Re: Documentation Correctness...)

[Richard Lewis <tech44writer -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

Am important part of learning the about the the task-analysis-related parts of the UML is to understand what those diagrams are not.  They are not of real use for functional\task analysis.  (Which, I would assume, as a TW, is of especial importance to you.)  Below is a copy of a response that I got from James Robertson (a well know rqmnts engineering author, who he eats lunch with Tom DeMarco) on a requirements engineering listserv.  
   
  Bottom Line: Data Flow Diagrams = Task Analysis.  Use Cases and Activity Diagrams (the UML task/function analysis techniques)  = Predesign techniques.
   
  Generic Richard
   
  ----------------------------------------
   
  Tony,

You are right. "Object-oriented" and "requirements" should not be in
 the
same sentence. Maybe one day UML might be changed enough to become a
 useful
business analysis tool, but not without a fundamental upheaval.

Stick with what you are doing.

James

> Question for all listserv members:
>
> As far as the modeling of functional requirements is
> concerned, is OOA an oxymoron?
>
> Data Flow Diagrams (a popular non-OOA functional
> modeling technique) actually prompt you through
> analysis.  With DFDs we follow each data flow from
> start to finish.  When the flows in our DFD combine or
> split apart, we have "flushed-out" an essential
> function that may otherwise have gone undiscovered.
> Thats what analysis is - a discovery process.
>
> There does not appear to be a true functional analysis
> technique in OOA (and the UML).  With Use Case
> disgrams, we are forced to play the old "Connect The
> Box" (or oval) game: We draw each Use Case oval, then
> try to connect it to the actors and/or other Use Case
> ovals.  This results in the age old problem: Whenever
> we try to perform analysis buy connecting together
> boxes (as opposed to following the data flows), we are
> going to miss a lot of important requirements.
> Avoidance of "Connect The Box" is the fundamental
> principle behind DFDs.
>
> OOA Activity Diagrams and Collaboration Diagrams may
> kind of look like DFDs, but they also require a
> "Connect The Box" approach.
>
> Am I missing something?  Is there a true (i.e.,
> rigorous) functional modeling technique for OOA?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tony >
>


Stuart Burnfield <slb -at- westnet -dot- com -dot- au> wrote:
  John (or anyone), can you recommend any other good resources to bring me 
up to date on UML? The client is aware that I'll need to learn on the 
job, but the better prepared I am, the sooner I can be productive.

Thanks

Stuart

John P said:
> I'm talking about any one of the the 13 UML diagram types.
> EVERY type of diagram examines the relationship between
> two entities; each form examines it in a different way.
> To me, that's pretty rigorous.
>
> One, class digrams, by definition, includes dependency,
> multiplicity, association, and aggregation.
>
> You also have the association notations which describe
> direction, relationship, etc. These attributes define how
> data moves through a system.
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