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This book is a very short and straightforward introduction to UML (and probably all you will ever need about UML). It goes through each UML topic and gives meaning and use explanations. It does a good job of throwing in examples and tips to illustrate good use of UML while still keeping the text short and usable as a reference. The second chapter of the book mentions that UML is a modeling language and not a process. But the author thinks that it would be silly to write a UML book without showing how it fits into a process, so chapter 2 is dedicated to outlining a general object-oriented development process. This is more to establish context and terminology for the rest of the book and is not intended as a guide to oo design. I found this chapter to be helpful in putting things in perspective. Another nice thing about this book is that there are references to other people's work throughout the text, a 'Where to find out more' section at the end of each chapter, and a full bibliography in the back. While most books have some or all of these features, this is actually one of the few times when it might be helpful. The references and bibliography in this book compose an interesting and useful guide to both historical and current software engineering theories and practices. This is a well respected book and as far as I know the only UML book you will need. It doesn't try to do anything but be a UML overview and reference and it does that very well.
Reviewed by John Joseph Bachir, 1/30/02 |