Rating: 
Summary: Complete practical guide, with no more theory than necessary
Review: Part I and 200 pages take the reader step by step through an introduction to object-oriented software design concepts and then through each of the UML diagram types. Part II and 110 pages provide a case study in chronological sequence with the UIML diagrams shown for each step. The case study ends with a brief intro to design patterns, a hot interview topic for developers. Part III and 68 pages provide an interesting chapter on UML in embedded systems and a look at where the UML is heading as far as the GUI and expert systems. The book is clearly written by a PhD who is a former PC technical journal editor. The writer is now an analyst and UML practitioner, and his working experience in the field makes the book a very practical guide. The UML diagrams are clear and simple. UML is pretty much for computer professionals, so this book is most useful for professionals who need to quickly get up to date with the UML, the worldwide language for modeling software systems. For those planning to use UML on a project for the first time, the book's organization makes it a useful reference for the vocabulary and notation of the UML. Since the UML is not yet a language that can be used to generate code with commonly available tools, the book has plenty of diagrams and Q&A at the end of each chapter but not the sample code that many Teach Yourself readers are accustomed to finding. So this one can be read in a comfortable chair with your computer turned off. Read this first and then if necessary dig into the more technical Addison Wesley Object Technology Series where each title is blessed by the three creators of the UML - Booch, Jacobson, and Rumbaugh. Any fear about this still new thing will be gone. You will be able to use the UML when you complete this book!
Rating:
Summary: Learn UML for a sawbuck!
Review: About the book: It was a book that I expected to gain a jump start knowledge of UML, and that's exactly what I got.
Targeted Reader: The book is targeted towards OO programmers. Note that on page 62 they mention Public/Private/Protected in one paragraph, and the uml usage in another. If your not a programmer, I think you would be lost with their glossy explaination.
glitch: Did you notice the figure 3.12 is exactly the same as 3.11. That would be because it's wrong! The figure 3.12 does not contain the "responsibilites" area, as it's states. (opps). See 3.15, the guard class to see a usage of this. This one glitch does not detract from the overall usefullness of the book.
My background: I'm a C/C++ programmer with 11 years experience. I've also used the booch notation ONCE.
My reason to buy this book: At Several interviews I've been on lately, they have asked about UML experience.
Employers are getting very very picky, it is imperative that employees keep up to date on the latest tools just in case you find yourself back on the market. Also note that Rational Rose has created documentation that also creates prototyped code! Documentation time does not take away from the development time! I bought stock in the company, and currently I'm very happy.
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Summary: ideal book for learning UML quickly
Review: UML is easy! should take a smart person 30 minutes! This book is free of the double talk in so many other books. There is a lot of lahtedah in the books on this subject! People like to feel exalted by reading a book full of double talk on an easy subject. Avoid the books by Booch, Fowler and Larman. UML is like CMM and SDLC done for appearances! Such an elegant topic for namedropping at cocktail parties! Get through this and read about patterns. The Design Patterns book by Vlissides, Johnson, etc is horrible but there are other recent books on patterns A professor of mine once expressed by thoughts to a word: "I read Grady Booch's OO book from 1992(?) 3 times and then asked myself What did I learn? NOTHING!"
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Summary: UML you can understand
Review: Our company is interested in UML, and several people had bought two books by the guys known as The Three Amigos - Booch, Jaconsen, and Rumbaugh (the User Guide and the Software Development Process). I started reading and quickly found that these books moved too far, too fast - the same experience that the others had. I took a look at the UML books in my local computer bookstore and decided to take a chance with this one. I'm glad I did. If you don't have a heavy Computer Science background, you'll find this to be an excellent introduction to UML. Schmuller provides a general introduction, followed by examples of all the main types of diagrams. He follows this up with a case study of automating a restaurant. In every instance the author constantly provides examples from the real world, so it's almost impossible to fail to understand. Schmuller's writing style is great; his background in magazines shows off here, as opposed to the "scholars writing for other scholars" approach of many of the other UML books. The "Twenty-four Hours" format puts the information into bite-size pieces, so you're never overwhelmed with new facts. People with a heavy computer science background will probably find this book doesn't go into enough detail, but the rest of us will be very happy. I'd suggest that if you had a small amount of programming experience you'd be ideal for this book, but anyone who's had some experience of computers can get a lot out of it. After I read this book I came back to the Three Amigos books and suddenly found I could understand them. In fact, I could dip into the books at pretty much any point and follow what was happening. With my new-found knowledge I offered to teach an intoductory course on UML for the people who were struggling with the Three Amigos books, and as I created my outline I realized how well thought-out Schmuller's book is. I didn't have to add much to what he'd written, and I began to realize that his examples must have been carefully chosen to make things very clear. In short - if UML seems like a hard slog to you, or you just think you need a passing knowledge, get this book. If you find that you want to go further, you'll now have the kind of knowledge that the Three Amigos expect from their readers.
Rating: 
Summary: 1st Half Great - but then...
Review: I picked up the book with the goal of learning UML as fast as I could for a complex project. The first half of the book sticks to this mission. Good job. But rather than focus on going into the intracacies of UML (what I needed), the author's focus switches to introducing (marketing) his "Grapple" technique. The first half of the book appears to be a disguise for this purpose. The details of UML are thus not quite there. I wish the author would have finished the UML job and written a separate book on "Grapple."
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Summary: Great UML book and Best Technical Read I've seen
Review: I've got a technical library of more than 500 books. Most of them I read until I learn what I need and then they sit on the bookshelf only to be used as a reference. This book is different. I felt that I needed to learn the ins and outs of UML quickly in order to function well in my job as an analyst doing system architecture work. This book had everything I needed and a lot more. It gave me a quick and comprehensive grasp of UML, in a way that was VERY readable, enjoyable, and (dare I say this for a technical book?) even humorous at times. I feel that I am ready to fully apply UML to my work place in a way that will really benefit our organization. I'm even reading through the book one more time with an eye on being able to teach UML to our other analysts, and I almost NEVER finish a technical book from cover to cover. I would even consider using this a a textbook if I could convince our local university to let me teach a course on UML. My hat is off to you Joseph Schmuller for writing a truely great technical book on UML. You have displayed a unique gift of technical prowness and superb writing skills that make this book one of the best technical books I've come across - ever.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely practical
Review: A very practical book that will teach you the concepts of UML without forcing you to unwanted sleeping sessions.
Three attributes make it so great:
1. It's concise and to the point.
2. It's full of examples that evolve as the models are explained. The second half of the book is one big example, detailing exactly how the UML interacts with actual analysis work, and making it a practical learning and reference tool, as opposed to a university text book.
3. Overall, the book is written in a flowing and interesting manner, making it an interesting read. Overall: Very practical, very interesting.
If all technical books were the same, life would be much easier.
Rating:
Summary: Good, if you want to get a quick intro into UML
Review: I bought this book because I needed a quick and dirty inroduction into UML for a software requirements document I had to write.
I managed to read the book in a few hours and the same day I was designing Use Cases, Activity Diagrams and Sequence Diagrams for my project. This book by no means is an exhaustive guide to UML, neither is it an in-depth tutorial. I guess it's more geered towards those that aren't software engineers by training that want to learn UML basics quickly. I gave it 5 stars because it achieves its stated objective, have you writing UML documents in a day.
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Summary: Best UML Book
Review: I have read a couple UML books and I am recommending this one to my colleagues, especially if they are UML novices. It is wonderful for people who have not had any experience in UML or system flows, as it assumes you know nothing, which is a good place to start. Not only is it very readable, easy to understand and well written, but I'd especially recommend it for managers who need an understanding of UML and its benefits. I generally don't enjoy reading these kinds of books, but I did enjoy reading this one and got a great deal out of it. Joseph Schmuller is an excellent writer who unlocks the potentials of UML in the real world. One you read this book, UML will be a useful tool for which you see many possibilties for using it.
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Summary: Excellent intro to a powerful business tool
Review: I'm a big fan of the SAMS series of books, as I've found they're a great way of getting up to speed with complex technologies quickly and easily. "Teach Yourself UML.." is no exception. Each lesson is easy to understand and relevant. The pace of the entire book, moreover, takes you through the "big picture" aspect of UML right down to the fine details. UML is typically thought of as a programming technology, but as this book illustrates, UML is a methodology that can be used throughout the enterprise. In any instance where someone needs to communicate a process, UML is a powerful tool. Much of it is based on self-evident analogies that most anyone familair with flowcharting can understand. "Teach Yourself UML..." helps put the rest into context. One fact to keep in mind with this book is that it is an *introductory* text. Although it takes the reader quite far into the methodology, advanced practitioners shopping for UML books will likely want to keep looking. The fact that UML is also so intiutive adds to this book's utility. Many readers may find that this book -- along with possibly one or two more advanced books -- are all they need to understand and work with UML, saving themselves the time and expense of a classroom course.
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