1997 to be exact -- the Object Management Group (OMG) released the Unified Modeling Language (UML). One of the purposes of UML was to provide the development community with a stable and common design language that could be used to develop and build computer applications. UML brought forth a unified standard modeling notation that IT professionals had been wanting for years. Using UML, IT professionals could now read and disseminate system structure and design plans -- just as construction workers have been doing for years with blueprints of buildings.

The heart of object-oriented problem solving is the construction of a model. The model abstracts the essential details of the underlying problem from its usually complicated real world. Several modeling tools are wrapped under the heading of the UML™, which stands for Unified Modeling Language™. The purpose of this course is to present important highlights of the UML.

At the center of the UML are its nine kinds of modeling diagrams, which we describe here.

* Use case diagrams
* Class diagrams
* Object diagrams
* Sequence diagrams

UML is officially defined at the Object Management Group (OMG) by the UML metamodel, a Meta-Object Facility metamodel (MOF). Like other MOF-based specifications, the UML metamodel and UML models may be serialized in XMI. UML was designed to specify, visualize, construct, and document software-intensive systems.

The Object Primer 3rd Edition: Agile Model Driven Development (AMDD) with UML 2       Understanding the thirteen diagrams of UML 2.x is an important part of understanding OO development.  Although there is   far more to modeling than just the UML the reality is the UML defines the standard modeling artifacts when it comes to object technology.

There are three classifications of UML diagrams:

What is UML?
UML stands for Unified Modeling Language. This object-oriented system of notation has evolved from the work of Grady Booch, James Rumbaugh, Ivar Jacobson, and the Rational Software Corporation. These renowned computer scientists fused their respective technologies into a single, standardized model. Today, UML is accepted by the Object Management Group (OMG) as the standard for modeling object oriented programs.

Types of UML Diagrams