[HN Gopher] UML Diagrams Designer via Code
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UML Diagrams Designer via Code
Author : begoon
Score : 76 points
Date : 2022-05-05 13:35 UTC (9 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (sequencediagram.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (sequencediagram.org)
| wooptoo wrote:
| There's also Mermaid which is natively supported by Github:
| https://mermaid-js.github.io/mermaid/
| smusamashah wrote:
| No other text to diagram tool also allows moving/editing diagram
| itself with mouse. I have shared this list[1] of all similar
| tools on web a few times before.
|
| [1]: https://xosh.org/text-to-diagram/
| oldsecondhand wrote:
| Umlet allows that too. Though dragging won't change the
| structure.
|
| https://www.umlet.com/
| yodon wrote:
| You've clearly put a lot of work into assembling this list. I'm
| guessing the page would be significantly more valuable to
| readers and much more likely to be found by people interested
| in the the information in it if you added a brief sentence or
| two description of each of the projects.
| smusamashah wrote:
| More info I put there, more difficult it will be to keep it
| updated. There are tags/words below each to describe what
| that tool is for.
| ncr100 wrote:
| Wikipedia?
|
| EDIT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unified_Modelin
| g_Langu...
|
| This list is not a good fit for your XOSH list. It does
| include PlantUML but does not include a feature-breakdown.
| Instead it's simply a declaration of existence.
| koch wrote:
| Nice list! How can I get https://cascade.page on there?
| smusamashah wrote:
| This is nice, added. At some point I will move the list to
| gist.github which will keep this page upto date.
| 0xbadcafebee wrote:
| This is fantastic! Code and UI in one! _please make every
| technology be like this_
| tonerow wrote:
| Very simple but easy syntax with visual feedback:
| https://flowchart.fun/
| rowls66 wrote:
| Looks like a web UI for PlantUML. Does anyone see anything more
| than that?
|
| https://plantuml.com/
| jupiter909 wrote:
| It's pretty much that. I like to use
| https://www.websequencediagrams.com/ and/or plantuml plugins
| for vscode that can process locally or via api.
| sjburt wrote:
| You can drag or modify the items in the diagram and it changes
| the UML, that's actually pretty neat. PlantUML normally only
| goes code to diagram.
| remram wrote:
| Or Mermaid, which is less capable but natively supported by
| GitLab and GitHub.
| djur wrote:
| I really wish Mermaid and PlantUML had compatible syntax, or
| at least more overlap for the basic structural stuff. On a
| day to day basis I'm writing either PlantUML in Confluence
| (via a plugin) or Mermaid in GitHub, and I almost always have
| to open up the reference or review an existing diagram to
| refresh myself on the different syntax.
| RandyRanderson wrote:
| plant needs to have a UI to manipulate the drawings and round-
| trip the adjustments back into the spec. This is required for
| any non-trivial diagram.
| raxxorraxor wrote:
| Very nice! I wish I had something like this when having to write
| papers for university. There are some nice tools but getting a
| consistent layout was always a problem. Are more diagram types
| planned?
| scrapcode wrote:
| Are UML diagrams used effectively in the dev industry? I'm in
| more of an systems analyst / solutions consultant role and don't
| see them used much.
| Vanit wrote:
| Only time I've seen them is when one of my jobs was contracted
| to the local Telco here who wanted all kinds of design
| deliverables.
| ClumsyPilot wrote:
| I prefer BPMN, it is more specific and easier on the eyes. The
| fact that there are many different types of UML diagram means
| noone knows them well enough to navivate and create them
| bluGill wrote:
| Most of my UML is what I call whiteboard UML because we draw
| something that looks almost like UML on a whiteboard, then
| start implementing that. A couple weeks later we realize the
| implementation and the UML have diverged because didn't think
| of something so we erase the whiteboard. The initial drawing
| was very useful to get the implementation started.
|
| 20 years ago I worked at a place that keep the UML up to date.
| It was nice to have, every week I'd print out the latest and
| paste it on my wall, then as I developed I'd look over at the
| poster to answer questions. It only worked there because we
| generated out code from the UML and so up to date UML was
| always easy to find. If you don't have a dev process that keeps
| it up to date I don't think it is worth it.
| inetknght wrote:
| > _It only worked there because we generated out code from
| the UML_
|
| That sounds very interesting! Was that a proprietary
| tool/pipeline or is there something which I can use to
| leverage UML to generate some specific language... for
| example C++?
| PinguTS wrote:
| I know many cooperations in automotive use the UML tool
| from Enterprise Architect. There is code generation
| available: https://sparxsystems.com/enterprise_architect_us
| er_guide/15....
| throwawayForMe2 wrote:
| I did for a while code gen from UML, in IBM/Rational
| Software Architect. They would transform the model into an
| intermediate xml, which was fed to JSP's for code gen.
|
| We also used Sparx Enterprise Architect to model a large
| amount of business processes notated in BPMN, Use Cases in
| UML, business rules using a Sparx framework, etc. From
| these linked and traced models we generated comprehensive
| documentation using a nice framework that could walk the
| model and merge information into Word documents.
| bluGill wrote:
| Proprietary, and it was 20 years ago, I don't remember what
| the tool was anymore. I doubt it is still available.
| Saint_Genet wrote:
| I'm a system architect within the world of large industrial
| systems and I have never seen a UML diagram in the wild.
| lifefeed wrote:
| I draw boxes and arrows. Sometimes the boxes are rounded.
|
| There was a study on this, UML in practice by Marian Petre.
| http://oro.open.ac.uk/35805/8/UML%20in%20practice%208.pdf where
| she interviewed 50 developers across 50 companies. Here's what
| she found.
|
| - 50 interviews.
|
| - 35 people don't use it.
|
| - 11 use it selectively, just whatever is useful.
|
| - 3 use it just once in a project, to generate code.
|
| - 1 uses it to comply with customer or management requirements.
|
| - 0 use it fully.
| PinguTS wrote:
| That study is almost 10 years old. Would be interesting to
| know if this has changed to the better or to the worse.
|
| (Of course, depending on how you define "better" and "worse"
| for yourself.) ;)
| rjsw wrote:
| UML diagrams with UML behind them are used in aerospace.
| PlantUML just does diagrams, not full UML.
| emerged wrote:
| I use them sometimes for component or sequence diagrams. I'm
| usually really happy with the result and get positive feedback
| for going to the effort. But stick to the 80:20 principle
| instead of diving down a UML pedantry rabbit hole.
| inetknght wrote:
| > _Are UML diagrams used effectively in the dev industry?_
|
| Are they effective? I say they are when correctly used. For
| example last year I used plant UML to draw a sequence diagram
| to demonstrate some threading/mutex problems. [1]
|
| I've also used draw.io to draw similar problems. [2]
|
| I would say that tbqh using UML (or maybe just plant UML) is
| the "better" solution because it can be embedded in code and
| re-rendered as needed. But draw.io is _much_ easier to use!
|
| I will also say that UML diagrams aren't well taught nor do
| most devs even know to reach for the tool.
|
| [1]: https://github.com/mavlink/qgroundcontrol/pull/9595
|
| [2]: https://github.com/airmap/qgroundcontrol/pull/6
| tomduncalf wrote:
| I was going to say, I used a sequence diagram last week to
| wrap my head around a threading situation. I think they are a
| good way to visually model anything asynchronous or thread
| based, and sometimes also user interaction flows, and I think
| UML's bad rep (is that fair to say?) means a lot of
| developers either are not aware of them or think they must
| have no value - I consider using them a bit of a secret
| superpower ;)
|
| I do occasionally use ER diagrams for drawing out data models
| too, but I'm super rough about following the "rules" with
| both of these. Really just a convenient way to sketch stuff
| out (usually using PlantUML or Mermaid, as I find it quicker
| to do in ASCII).
| capableweb wrote:
| Following them like a holy-grail, no, not that useful. I
| usually use them to help juniors build a foundational skill
| about drawing graphs of architecture before implementing them,
| as the ground-work for discussing the proposed architecture.
| Also explaining to them that it doesn't have to be using the
| right fill/hollow arrow or whatever, more that the graphs
| themselves accurately describes the architecture.
|
| So in short: kinda.
| RandyRanderson wrote:
| Bullet points for requirements and one "box, swimlane, and
| cylinder" diagram (with no standard elements) for analysis and
| design if you're on a 'strict' project.
|
| If we can't even decide on language A or B, CSV or JSON, ...
| (these are implementation artifacts that are essential to the
| solution), what hope do we have of even understanding- no even
| seeing that there is a problem in the other disciplines
| (requirements, analysis, etc) of technology delivery?
|
| If we make it another 100 years, we'll look back at this time and
| view what we are coding now as wattle and daub huts whereas a
| century from now we'll be erecting the analogue of technological
| skyscrapers (but probably not good ones, if I'm being realistic).
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