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Ask HN: Is UML still relevant today?

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Re: Ask HN: Is UML still relevant today?

#31

Post by sergiotapia »

Nope, learned about it during college and had to present every project I made using it (ugh...) and I haven't used it -once- in the real world. Nobody cares.

Learn how to diagram sequences and that's about it. The rest is just a fancy way to charge $150/hr consulting fees for 'architecture.' Utterly useless these days.

Re: Ask HN: Is UML still relevant today?

#32

Post by Rabidgremlin »

contingencies wrote: post #21
jashmenn wrote: post #4

If you learn only one diagram from UML, take the time to understand and use Sequence Diagrams [1]. Being able to break down an interaction into a sequence diagram (especially between 2 or 3 servers) is a powerful thought tool for specifying interactions and its easy for people to understand. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequence_diagram

A great open source tool for these is http://www.mcternan.me.uk/mscgen/

Also https://www.websequencediagrams.com/

and http://www.umlet.com/ (if you need to do more then just sequence diagrams)

Re: Ask HN: Is UML still relevant today?

#33

Post by ZeppelinDePlomo »

You don't "design" diagrams, they are design tools. The point is communicating and formalizing models to iterate ideas more quickly and cheaper than coding or prototyping (of course, they work up to a point). They are ways of visualizing interactions, states, operations and so on, the "heart", the main "idea" or "the point" of a system in a way that implementation details don't get in the way of the main innovation and/or core value added.

It's a really useful skill.

...but "UML" as a brand to add to your resumé is pretty much useless.

Re: Ask HN: Is UML still relevant today?

#34

Post by codyod »

Like a few have pointed out, it depends, but even then not the whole beast. Certain few diagrams are useful in the early stage, where having diagrams is fastter to communicate ideas and concepts across. Other than that UML is a wastage of time as the software base evolves - it cannot pace itself well to that dyanamism and agility; it has no inbuilt dialectical characteristics. However, document core stable parts could be done. I personally do not know any body who does though.

Re: Ask HN: Is UML still relevant today?

#35

Post by ENGNR »

endgame wrote: post #26
jashmenn wrote: post #4

If you learn only one diagram from UML, take the time to understand and use Sequence Diagrams [1]. Being able to break down an interaction into a sequence diagram (especially between 2 or 3 servers) is a powerful thought tool for specifying interactions and its easy for people to understand. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequence_diagram

zenbowman's reply is [dead]. Why?

Because business users can understand them and the process flow is important to them (entity-relationship diagrams work well too for modeling the data and establishing a basic glossary for future communication)

After that it usually turns out to be simpler to create a prototype or wireframe than UML diagrams these days (IMO).

Re: Ask HN: Is UML still relevant today?

#36

Post by rosser »

endgame wrote: post #26
jashmenn wrote: post #4

If you learn only one diagram from UML, take the time to understand and use Sequence Diagrams [1]. Being able to break down an interaction into a sequence diagram (especially between 2 or 3 servers) is a powerful thought tool for specifying interactions and its easy for people to understand. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequence_diagram

zenbowman's reply is [dead]. Why?

Presumably hellbanned, but on a quick perusal of the account's comment history, I don't see anything warranting that.

Re: Ask HN: Is UML still relevant today?

#37

Post by talles »

UML is something that shouldn't be avoided nor encouraged. Is a mere tool to represent code in a graphical and compact manner.

"Worth to be designed?", depends on your situation, you tell me. If you don't know if you need you probably don't need at all.

Re: Ask HN: Is UML still relevant today?

#39

Post by dangrossman »

endgame wrote: post #26
jashmenn wrote: post #4

If you learn only one diagram from UML, take the time to understand and use Sequence Diagrams [1]. Being able to break down an interaction into a sequence diagram (especially between 2 or 3 servers) is a powerful thought tool for specifying interactions and its easy for people to understand. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequence_diagram

zenbowman's reply is [dead]. Why?

The most common cause of individual [dead] comments on an otherwise not-banned account is double posting. If you accidentally submit the same comment twice, the second one is killed. Since both show as live on your screen, when you delete one of the duplicates, you may delete the one that's live to everyone else, while leaving the one that's dead to everyone else.
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