Rating: 
Summary: Ouch!
Review: I bought this book, without reading any reviews, on the basis it would demonstrate the usual lucidity of the "In a Nutshell" series. Alas no. It is a fine example of a pedantic, overly qualified academic book; almost comical in its lack of clarity. Vague diagrams followed by long lists of overly precise bullet points are the preferred mechanism of imparting knowledge (one can imagine the author sweating to impart maximum exactitude in the minimum word count). I'm sure the author knows the subject, however, I would defy any generalist to make head or tail of it. The last book I read as staggeringly incomprehensible as this was Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus - and at least you know with Wittgenstein it's going to be incomprehensible before you part with your cash. So in a nutshell, no.
Rating:
Summary: Unlike most O'Reilly books, it's poorly written
Review: As a devotee of O'reilly titles (it's the first publisher I usually look to on computer subjects), this one was disappointing. Regardless of whether it covers the subject matter well, the book fails simply because of the writing. It is, at least in the beginning, weighed down by comma series that go on forever, parenthetic notes that are redundant, and points that are lost in a volume of unrelated stuff.The author lacks focus, and the writing style is academic. This is not a practitioner's guide. I ended up purchasing a second UML book within a week.
Rating: 
Summary: Just a bit much (I'm laughing)
Review: I don't normally write reviews but this book was just too much to pass up. I swear I have seen this skit on SNL where some guy just explains something an absurd degree and confuses everyone. This is that skit in book form. For example (I was laughing when I read this) on page 52 where the author is describing objects, the 4th bullet says, "Objects - May be of a simple or complex data type (should have stopped here) Simple data types are not reducible to any subordinate parts. Complex data types are conglomerates reducible to subordinate parts." I think someone published his dissertation at O'Reilly. Let me say to the folks who gave this book five stars and think that these other people just don't know enough to be in the ballgame, I respectable disagree with you. I have worked with OOA&D and the UML for several years now and I just found this book to be a mediocre reference at best. You are correct, it is not for beginners but a book still needs to be interesting, provide concrete examples and in-depth analysis into the most important aspects of good object-oriented analysis and design. In my opinion, this book really offers none of that. If you really want a great book that will keep you reading like a Tom Clancy novel (okay that is stretching it a bit) you should get Fundamentals of Object-Oriented Design in UML by Meilir Page-Jones. Now I have seen some reviews that say it is for beginners but I do not agree. The first section on fundamentals of OO yes, however the subsequent parts of the book get into some very well written detailed analysis about not only best practices with the UML, but also object-oriented software design principles in general. O'Reilly, I am disappointed. I have several titles (Java Network Programming, Java and XML, EJB, Servlets etc.) and this is by far the worse. I think O'Reilly should leave OOA&D and the UML to the Addison-Wesley Booch-Rumbaugh-Jacabson series. Just my two cents :-)
Rating:
Summary: 'ok' at best
Review: The tutorial section was ok, but other than that I found the book to be of little use. The author's attempt at describing the basic O-O paradigm is possibly the most convoluted explanation I've ever seen. Eg, object operations (aka methods) "Are representational constructs of behaviorial characteristics of entities". IMO, this is just one example of many failed attempts at describing simple concepts. I started to wonder if the author was paid by the syllable.
Rating:
Summary: This book is a waste of time and money
Review: I found no use for this book, except as ... The text is boring. There is no explanation, just a set of phrases that most of the time seams to be lost in the context. From chapter one to three there is nothing useful. Some diagrams and descriptions after Chapter 3 but everything is to much vague. For me this is more a review or collection of white papers than a book.
Rating: 
Summary: overall good, worth reading. But bad editing
Review: I agree with some other reviewers about the unnecessary history of UML: that doesn't fit the prupose.
I found the contents pretty useful (not everything is for novices), but the editing is really bad: almost every reference to a figure is 1 or 2 pages away.
I paid 24 dollars for this and I don't regret.
Rating:
Summary: Not for beginners
Review: This is NOT the book you want if you are just starting to learn about UML. I bought it for that purpose, and found it useless.
I'm selling it now, and will use the proceeds toward Martin Fowler's book, UML Distilled.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent destop reference
Review: I agree with one reviewer who said this book may be reaching the wrong audience. This is not for beginners, it's a reference for those who have pre-existing knowledge but who need to review from time to time, when we come across something new or complex. This book belongs at work with everyone designing in UML. If your just beginning with UML, you may still benefit from this, but don't expect this to be an intro course to UML.
Rating:
Summary: I Like Only the Cat on the Cover¿
Review: The only reason that I like the book is because it has a cat on the cover! When you read a "Desktop Quick Reference" such as this, you'll wonder if this is just a "quick thing" or it's the entire UML bible... It appears to spread beyond its original scope. A 275 page book should not be called "...In a Nutshell". Comments: 1. Reference books are usually not for beginners. Readers that complain that the topic is too complicated should not be starting with "In a Nutshell" type of a book. 2. This book is neither a Reference nor an "In a Nutshell" book type. It's an attempt to compress the entire UML bible into one atom. Beginners should not be attempting to use their microscopes as well... 3. Even experienced UML professionals will have a hard time to follow the book logic and sequence. 4. It's not clear if the book is suggesting a methodology, representing a modeling language or just helping with diagramming methods.
Rating:
Summary: not a good book to start with
Review: if you start learning UML, this is absolutely not a good pick. The orgnization of this book is poor. Some parts are reiterated more than 3 times, some are seldomly mentioned.
Too many messy diagrams makes readers like me confused.
| 
