The Unified Modeling Language Reference Manual

The authors have done an outstanding job with this UML book. The definitions of the terms are the best I have seen. The organization and material in the encyclopedia are fantastic!
-Perry Cole, MCIWorldCom

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) has rapidly become the standard notation for modeling software-intensive systems. This book provides the definitive description of UML from its original developers--James Rumbaugh, Ivar Jacobson, and Grady Booch. Whether you are capturing requirements, developing a software architecture, designing the implementation, or trying to understand an existing system, this is the book for you.

The majority of the book is a unique alphabetical list of articles covering every aspect of UML in a form convenient for quick reference and detailed study. This format permits full coverage of UML details as well as high-level articles without confusing the reader by constant shifts in level. The first part of the book--a complete summary of UML concepts organized by subject area--provides an introduction to UML for the newcomer as well as entry points into the detailed articles.

Highlights of the book include:
Two-color diagrams, extensively annotated
Thorough coverage of both semantics and notation, separated in each article for easy reference
Further explanations of concepts whose meaning or purpose is obscure in the original specifications
Discussion sections offering usage advice and additional insight into tricky concepts
A hyperlinked version of the book in Adobe Reader format on CD-ROM, an excellent resource for browsing or searching the text for specific information
Full text of the UML specification documents on CD-ROM, courtesy of the Object Management Group
Notation summary, with hyperlinks to individual articles on CD-ROM

Dr. James Rumbaugh is one of the leading object-oriented methodologists. He is the chief developer of the Object Modeling Technique (OMT) and the lead author of the best-selling book Object-Oriented Modeling and Design. Before joining Rational Software Corporation in October 1994, he worked for more than 25 years at General Electric Research and Development Center in Schenectady, New York.

He has been working on object-oriented methodology and tools for many years. He developed the DSM object-oriented programming language, the state tree model of control, the OMT object modeling notation, and the Object Modeling Tool graphic editor. The foundations for the OMT notation were developed more than 10 years ago with Mary Loomis and Ashwin Shah of Calma Corporation. The OMT methodology was developed at GE R&D Center with coauthors Mike Blaha, Bill Premerlani, Fred Eddy, and Bill Lorensen.

Dr. Rumbaugh received his Ph.D. in computer science from MIT. During his Ph.D. research under Professor Jack Dennis, Dr. Rumbaugh was one of the inventors of data flow computer architecture. His career has dealt with semantics of computation, tools for programming productivity, and applications using complex algorithms and data structures. Dr. Rumbaugh has published journal articles on his work and has spoken at leading object-oriented conferences. He writes a regular column for the Journal of Object-Oriented Programming.

Dr. Rumbaugh is the lead author of the recent best-selling book Object-Oriented Modeling and Design, published by Prentice Hall. His latest book, OMT Insights: Perspectives on Modeling from the Journal of Object-Oriented Programming, was released in October 1996. He and his colleagues developed the OMT methodology described in the book based on real-world applications at GE, and they have worked to extend the original methodology. He has taught courses based on the methodology to different audiences around the world, ranging from one-hour seminars to intensive several-day training courses.

He has a B.S. in physics from MIT, an M.S. in astronomy from Caltech, and a Ph.D. in computer science from MIT.

During his career at GE, he worked on a variety of problems, including the design of one of the first time-sharing operating systems, early work in interactive graphics, algorithms for computed tomography, use of parallel machines for fast image generation, VLSI chip design, and finally, object-oriented technology.

Jim developed OMTool, an interactive graphical editor for manipulation of object model diagrams. The editor is commercially available. In addition, he led a five-year programming effort producing production-quality software.

In addition, Jim was the manager of the Software Engineering Program at GE, where he led a team of eight to ten Ph.D. and M.S. scientists performing research in software engineering in the areas of algorithm development, programming languages, program proving, and VLSI computer-aided design. In addition, he performed personal research.

Jim developed Chipwright, an interactive graphical CAD system for VLSI layout with incremental design rule checking. He also led a team of four programmers in implementation.

Jim developed and implemented the object-oriented language DSM, combining object-oriented concepts with database concepts and distributed it within GE for use on production applications. The language was heavily used at Calma Corporation and was extensively extended based on user feedback with a preliminary version.

Jim also developed Vista, a hierarchical interactive standard graphics system (similar to the PHIGS system) written in the object-oriented DSM language. He implemented user-interface applications based on this system, including a configuration-management tool and a user-interface generation tool.

Jim developed the concept of state trees