Rating: 
Summary: Great practical guidance for using UML
Review: I have consulted for many clients and found this new refernce to be of great value. Many development organizations trying to move to a more rigorous development process struggle with the theory of UML vs the reality. This is where Scott's wealth of project experience comes into play with this concise reference along with helpful hints to get you started on the right foot using UML. While this material exists in other resources (including Scott's own books) this is a great summation in one place for you to refer to that is extremely handy. Especially good for those looking to establish standards for their organization.
Rating: 
Summary: Handy Pocket Guide
Review: I love it! You can fit it in your pocket! This hand guide should be at every developer and analyst's desk and in every team room. Even if you don't like one point or another, the point is, here is a standard to use. As opposed to your standard that you have not gotten around to developing. All to often teams get hung up trying to create their own best standard. Here is a style guide. You don't need to worry about time or (worse) politics in getting it developed. Here it is, ready to go!
Rating:
Summary: UML - KISS
Review: I still remember the first time I read something written by Scott Ambler. It was an article about 9 years ago in Software Development magazine (actually it was probably the forerunner) about use cases. His style of writing is, was, and always will be so easy to read and comprehend. Perhaps that is why so many folks write to agree and/or disagree with his ideas: there's no AMBIguity there. Scott's subscribes to and adheres to the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Scott!). That is what makes it easy to understand and appreciate. In this book Scott has very capably tackled the easily misunderstood (and therefore often misapplied) ideas of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and presented them in a manner than anyone can understand and apply in their work. This book is small enough to fit in your pocket but is incredibly massive in applicability. It belongs on the desks of every developer (AND their manager!) working with UML. Whether applying UML in an XP environment or within the constraints of behemoth software development projects, a basic understanding of the UML is essential. This book will get your team there, quickly. Research shows that the number one factor that contributes to project success (or failure) is the ability (or inability) to communicate well. That was one of the goals of the UML, a truly UNIFIED language in the arena of modeling. A key value in Agile Modeling (AM) is communication. Coupled with the AM principle of Know Your Models and the AM practice of Apply Modeling Standards, this book will assure that your project's modeling efforts shine.
Rating:
Summary: A great start on corporate modeling guidelines
Review: In writing The Elements of UML Style, Scott Ambler has done the software modeling community a great service. As a consultant and trainer of numerous corporate clients, I see many teams whose individuals understand the semantics of UML, but have yet to gel as a team with common practices and style. On these teams, communication and productivity often suffer when arguments erupt over why something is modeled the way it is and how my way is better. Teams need to agree on a set of common practices and style. The Elements of UML Style is a great starting point. The Elements of UML Style is small, concise, intuitively organized, and well explained. It proceeds section by section through the various UML diagrams, in the order they are used on a project. These sections provide many tried and true common sense guidelines and some valuable, but less obvious guidelines aimed at creating well-formed models. Is it necessary? Yes. This is the best compendium of UML modeling guidelines I have seen published. Projects would be foolish to start from scratch. Is it sufficient? No. It is a starting point. Projects will want to adjust and go beyond what Ambler writes here. For example, The Elements of UML Style provides general guidelines that urge adopting common naming conventions (section 2.3). A corporation or project will want to nail down specific guidelines for their use case, class, and component names. Also, Ambler focuses on the diagrams of UML, but there is more to modeling than the diagrams. UML itself avoids topics such as what constitutes a well-formed use case specification, and so does Ambler's book. One would have to turn to other books or training, such as IconMedialab's Advanced Use Case Lab course for detailed guidelines in these areas. Will I be an object modeler just by reading this book? No. This is not an intro book to modeling. Read Craig Larman's "Applying UML and Patterns" (for example) to learn how to object model. Instead, The Elements of UML Style brings together many of the nuggets that will help to become a better, more consistent, and easily understood modeler. I will be recommending this book to my clients.
Rating:
Summary: Great practical guidance for using UML
Review: It is remarkable to be able to endorse so enthusiastically a book I disagree with such large parts of. This is a book that has been needed for some time now, and it is to Scott Ambler's credit that he finally produced it and did a good job of it. But understand that, like most people, I am a great believer in standards--as long as they are mine. I have trouble with other people's... That being said, for the most part Mr. Ambler has it right here. He focuses on UML, but he also presents guidelines (and an attitude) that are appropriate for all modeling techniques. I have more to say about his "General Diagramming Guidelines" and the section on UML Class diagrams than I do on the others, but the guideline format is also welcome as a concise way to describe the notations I didn't know that well. In his General Guidelines, I give him a 4 out of 5. His concern for creating simple diagrams and naming things correctly is spot on. His general guidelines such as labeling unknowns with a question mark and using color (sparingly) are fine. He has good general advice about the use of UML. My biggest disagreement with him is on presentation--his "Readability Guidelines". His views are those held by many, so I can't fault him for them, but I firmly believe that a bent line is a more serious fault in a diagram than are crossed lines. An "elbow" is a symbol that draws the viewer's eye to it, but it has no meaning, so it is cluttering the diagram. If it is clear that there are no elbows, then it is easy to see that all crossed lines are just that--crossed--and no further attention has to be paid to them. To keep lines straight, however, it is necessary to vary the size of entity type boxes. This is not a bad thing, since in makes the drawing much more interesting than would be rows and rows of identically sized boxes. I agree that it you should avoid curved lines and that, for the most part, relationship lines should be orthogonal, but I also believe that an occasional diagonal line adds interest, just because it is so jarring. In his guidelines for class models, Mr. Ambler correctly recognizes that a class diagram that represents the structure of a business is very different from a class diagram that represents a program design. He correctly has different guidelines for the two audiences. In addition to a set of general guidelines, he has guidelines for style, interfaces, relationships, associations, inheritance, aggregation and composition. I have a problem with the discussion about interfaces, since that is purely a design issue and not something I am conversant in. Similarly, other guidelines that were clearly for design I can't comment on. I was troubled that he devoted two pages to aggregation and composition, which even he quotes Craig Larmon as saying "If in doubt, leave it out". These are symbols cluttering a diagram whose meaning is just as well conveyed by labeling the roles "part of" and "composed of". (Yes, the the diamonds also convey referential integrity constraints, but in a very limited way.) I was troubled with Mr. Ambler's guidelines for relationships and associations. His views are widely held, so I may be a lone voice here, but I still believe that relationships (and associations) should have names for both roles and those names should be prepositions, not verbs. The preposition is the part of speech that describes relationships. Verbs describe actions, which are not appropriate on structural models. Having said that, it is true that in the OO environment, a role represents a behavior, in that it means a requirement for navigation. Here, perhaps verbs are more appropriate. In the analysis world, however, a relationship is structural. It is describing the nature of things, not how they behave. Of course it is also the case that in the design UML diagram an arrow is available if necessary, to show that navigation is important in one direction only. In short, Mr. Ambler has done an excellent job of laying out the terms for a set of guidelines, and indeed has done well with most of the guidelines themselves. To the extent that he has articulated them clearly enough that I can disagree with some of them, he has also performed a service.
Rating:
Summary: A Needed Reference Guide
Review: It is remarkable to be able to endorse so enthusiastically a book I disagree with such large parts of. This is a book that has been needed for some time now, and it is to Scott Ambler's credit that he finally produced it and did a good job of it. But understand that, like most people, I am a great believer in standards--as long as they are mine. I have trouble with other people's... That being said, for the most part Mr. Ambler has it right here. He focuses on UML, but he also presents guidelines (and an attitude) that are appropriate for all modeling techniques. I have more to say about his "General Diagramming Guidelines" and the section on UML Class diagrams than I do on the others, but the guideline format is also welcome as a concise way to describe the notations I didn't know that well. In his General Guidelines, I give him a 4 out of 5. His concern for creating simple diagrams and naming things correctly is spot on. His general guidelines such as labeling unknowns with a question mark and using color (sparingly) are fine. He has good general advice about the use of UML. My biggest disagreement with him is on presentation--his "Readability Guidelines". His views are those held by many, so I can't fault him for them, but I firmly believe that a bent line is a more serious fault in a diagram than are crossed lines. An "elbow" is a symbol that draws the viewer's eye to it, but it has no meaning, so it is cluttering the diagram. If it is clear that there are no elbows, then it is easy to see that all crossed lines are just that--crossed--and no further attention has to be paid to them. To keep lines straight, however, it is necessary to vary the size of entity type boxes. This is not a bad thing, since in makes the drawing much more interesting than would be rows and rows of identically sized boxes. I agree that it you should avoid curved lines and that, for the most part, relationship lines should be orthogonal, but I also believe that an occasional diagonal line adds interest, just because it is so jarring. In his guidelines for class models, Mr. Ambler correctly recognizes that a class diagram that represents the structure of a business is very different from a class diagram that represents a program design. He correctly has different guidelines for the two audiences. In addition to a set of general guidelines, he has guidelines for style, interfaces, relationships, associations, inheritance, aggregation and composition. I have a problem with the discussion about interfaces, since that is purely a design issue and not something I am conversant in. Similarly, other guidelines that were clearly for design I can't comment on. I was troubled that he devoted two pages to aggregation and composition, which even he quotes Craig Larmon as saying "If in doubt, leave it out". These are symbols cluttering a diagram whose meaning is just as well conveyed by labeling the roles "part of" and "composed of". (Yes, the the diamonds also convey referential integrity constraints, but in a very limited way.) I was troubled with Mr. Ambler's guidelines for relationships and associations. His views are widely held, so I may be a lone voice here, but I still believe that relationships (and associations) should have names for both roles and those names should be prepositions, not verbs. The preposition is the part of speech that describes relationships. Verbs describe actions, which are not appropriate on structural models. Having said that, it is true that in the OO environment, a role represents a behavior, in that it means a requirement for navigation. Here, perhaps verbs are more appropriate. In the analysis world, however, a relationship is structural. It is describing the nature of things, not how they behave. Of course it is also the case that in the design UML diagram an arrow is available if necessary, to show that navigation is important in one direction only. In short, Mr. Ambler has done an excellent job of laying out the terms for a set of guidelines, and indeed has done well with most of the guidelines themselves. To the extent that he has articulated them clearly enough that I can disagree with some of them, he has also performed a service.
Rating:
Summary: A long needed guide
Review: There are two people I look to for information about UML: Martin Fowler (noteably: UML Distilled), and Scott Ambler. With this book all the pieces are there. "UML Distilled" tells us how to use UML, "Agile Modeling" tells us how to use it in an agile way, and now "The Elements of UML Style" tells us how to use it so that the results look good and are understandable. Physically, it's a nice book. Small and thin, it packs well, and will fit easily into the most overstuffed briefcase or backpack. The format is good as well. Organized around the different diagrams, with extras for general guidelines and a quick overview of Agile Modeling, it covers related issues together in an easy to digest format. The guidelines themselves are short, concise, and well illustrated with examples. I found it an easy book to read, being able to pick it up for a few minutes at a time without having to spend a lot of time to regain my context. No matter how much you model, or what tools you use to do it, this little book will help make your diagrams better.
Rating:
Summary: A long needed guide
Review: There are two people I look to for information about UML: Martin Fowler (noteably: UML Distilled), and Scott Ambler. With this book all the pieces are there. "UML Distilled" tells us how to use UML, "Agile Modeling" tells us how to use it in an agile way, and now "The Elements of UML Style" tells us how to use it so that the results look good and are understandable. Physically, it's a nice book. Small and thin, it packs well, and will fit easily into the most overstuffed briefcase or backpack. The format is good as well. Organized around the different diagrams, with extras for general guidelines and a quick overview of Agile Modeling, it covers related issues together in an easy to digest format. The guidelines themselves are short, concise, and well illustrated with examples. I found it an easy book to read, being able to pick it up for a few minutes at a time without having to spend a lot of time to regain my context. No matter how much you model, or what tools you use to do it, this little book will help make your diagrams better.
Rating:
Summary: A long needed guide
Review: There are two people I look to for information about UML: Martin Fowler (noteably: UML Distilled), and Scott Ambler. With this book all the pieces are there. "UML Distilled" tells us how to use UML, "Agile Modeling" tells us how to use it in an agile way, and now "The Elements of UML Style" tells us how to use it so that the results look good and are understandable. Physically, it's a nice book. Small and thin, it packs well, and will fit easily into the most overstuffed briefcase or backpack. The format is good as well. Organized around the different diagrams, with extras for general guidelines and a quick overview of Agile Modeling, it covers related issues together in an easy to digest format. The guidelines themselves are short, concise, and well illustrated with examples. I found it an easy book to read, being able to pick it up for a few minutes at a time without having to spend a lot of time to regain my context. No matter how much you model, or what tools you use to do it, this little book will help make your diagrams better.
Rating:
Summary: When "less" is "more"
Review: This book has lots of excellent recommendations on style and presentation of UML diagrams. Ambler offers up 236 recommendations to questions such as: How often should I use stereotypes? Should we model keys into our DBMS? Should we require activation boxes on our sequence diagrams? I have to recommend this little book to anyone beginning to use UML. More experienced object modelers will have developed their own modeling conventions, but they also will benefit from reading Ambler's articulate perspective. He is an accomplished modeler and an effective communicator. Ambler covers style guidelines for all 9 UML 1.x diagrams. IMHO most of his suggestions are right-on, and his explanations are consise and accessible. I have been modeling OO systems for 10 years, and I don't agree with every recommendation Ambler makes, but I appreciate what he is offering in this book. I especially like the fact that Ambler included an Appendix that lists all 236 guidelines in just a few pages. The book also has a high-quality bibliography of other modeling resources, and I was quite pleased that this short book also includes an Index for rapid access to terms. Most development groups endorse the need for programming conventions and consistent naming standards. "The Elements of UML Style" is an extension of this philosophy to UML models, and every project will benefit from the ideas it presents.
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