Visual Modeling with Rational Rose 2002 and UML

From the Book: Goals When I set out to write the first version of this book, I thought, "This should be pretty easy . I do this for a living. " Boy, was I wrong! Putting into words what I do on a daily basis was one of the hardest things I have ever done (all right, childbirth was more painful, but not by much). But I persevered, spent many, many nights and weekends in front of my computer, and gave birth to Visual Modeling with Rational Rose and UML. I must admit that the first time I saw my book on the bookshelf at a local bookstore, I was thrilled. I also found out that you need to have very thick skin to read book reviews. My book is unique since people seem to love it (5 stars) or they are less than impressed with it (1 star). For some reason, I rarely get a rating in between. I have also figured out that writing a book that is tied to a tool is like rearing a child—it needs constant care. So, once again, I have spent hours in front of my computer updating my book to adhere to the features found in Rational Rose 2002. And no, writing it has not gotten much easier. As far as the two camps of reviewers, nothing will change there. If you liked the first two versions, you will like this one since the goal of the book has not changed: to be a simple introduction to the world of visual modeling. If you were less than impressed with the first two versions, you will probably not like this version either. I say this since the goal of the book has not changed. It is not a complete guide to the UML (these books have been written by Grady and Jim and I am not even going to attempt to compete with the definitive experts). It is not a complete guide to the Rational UnifiedProcess (these books have been written, quite nicely, by Philippe and Ivar). It is not even a good book on C++ (in fact, I usually tell people that I no longer write code for a living, and there is a very good reason that I don't). As I stated, this book is meant to take a simple, first look at how a process, a language, and a tool may be used to create a blueprint of your system. Approach This book takes a practical approach to teaching visual modeling techniques and the UML. It uses a case study to show the analysis and design of an application. The application is a course registration system for a university. This problem domain was chosen because it is understood easily and is not specific to any field of computer science. You can concentrate on the specifics of modeling the domain rather than investing time in understanding an unfamiliar problem domain. The problem is treated seriously enough to give you practical exercise with visual modeling techniques and the feeling for solving a real problem, without being so realistic that you are bogged down in details. Thus many interesting and perhaps necessary requirements, considerations, and constraints were put aside to produce a simplified, yet useful case study fitting the scope of this book. For additional details on visual modeling and the UML or on applying the techniques to your application, you should consider the training and mentoring services offered by Rational Software Corporation. Details may be found at the Rational website. Chapter Summaries The ordering and number of chapters in this version of the book have not been changed, but the content of the chapters has been updated. The screen shots and Rational Rose instructions have been changed so they reflect what you will see with Rational Rose 2002. Chapter 1: Introduction Introduces the techniques, language, and process that are used throughout the book. This chapter discusses the benefits of visual modeling, the history of the UML, and the software development process used. Chapter 2: Beginning a Project Contains information that is related to the Course Registration System case study that is used throughout the book. Chapter 3: Creating Use Cases Discusses the techniques used to examine system behavior from a use-case approach. Chapter 4: Finding Classes Discusses the concepts and notations used for finding objects and classes. This chapter also discusses the UML concepts of stereotypes and packages. Chapter 5: Discovering Object Interaction Discusses the addition of scenarios to the system to describe how use cases are realized as interactions among societies of objects. This chapter also examines how sequence diagrams and collaboration diagrams may be used to capture scenarios. Chapter 6: Specifying Relationships Illustrates the definition of relationships between classes in the system. Specifically, the concepts of association and aggregation are explored. Chapter 7: Adding Behavior and Structure Shows how the needed structure and behavior of classes are added to the model under development. Chapter 8: Discovering Inheritance Illustrates the application of generalization and specialization principles to discover superclass/subclass relationships. Chapter 9: Analyzing Object Behavior Uses Harel state transition diagrams to provide additional analysis techniques for classes with significant dynamic behavior. Chapter 10: Checking the Model Discusses techniques used to blend and check models for consistency. These techniques are needed when different teams are working on a single project in parallel. Chapter 11: Designing the System Architecture Contains an introduction to the concepts and notation needed to specify and document the system architecture. This chapter is not meant to be a tell-all process guide to the development of the architecture—it is meant to be a guide to the notation and process used to specify, visualize, and document the system architecture. It is placed at this point in the structure of the book since the architectural decisions specified in this chapter must be made prior to the information contained in later chapters. Chapter 12: Building the Iterations Discusses the iteration planning process. It also looks at the UML notation used to specify and document the design decisions that occur during the implementation of an iteration. The chapter does not focus on good (or bad) design decisions—it looks at the process and notations used to capture the design of an iteration. Appendix A: Code Generation and Reverse Engineering with C++ Provides step-by-step guides to code generation and reverse engineering using the Rational Rose 2002 and the C++ language. Appendix B: Code Generation and Reverse Engineering with Visual C++ and Visual Basic Provides step-by-step guides to code generation and reverse engi-neering using Rational Rose 2002 and the Visual C++ and Visual Basic languages. Appendix C: A Visual Basic Example Provides a step-by-step demonstration showing how to create and reuse a Visual Basic DLL. Glossary Provides definitions of terms used throughout the book.