A survey into the rigor of UML use and its perceived impact on quality and productivity

Abstract

The UML (Unified Modeling Language) has become the de facto standard for software modeling in the software industry. Despite its wide acceptance, little is known about how UML is used in practice, let alone the challenges and difficulties faced by engineers who work with this modeling notation. In this paper, we provide empirical findings from a survey on the use of UML amongst 80 professional software engineers. We explore software engineers' opinions on common styles of using UML and how they perceive the impact of using UML on productivity and quality in software development. One of the results reveals that the impact of using the UML on productivity is perceived mostly in the design, analysis, and implementation phases.

Model Comparison: a Systematic Mapping Study

“…This is the explanation more accepted about the high quantity of approaches focusing on resolving generic diagram comparison. On the other hand, the class diagram is the most common UML diagram investigated (12 approaches); similar to previous studies [25] [26] in the field of software modeling highlighting UML class diagram as one of UML most used in practice. Although UML is considered de fact standard modeling language [26], we have observed the number of non-UML-based comparison techniques (48%) outnumbers the UML-based ones (53%).…”

Evaluating the Impact of UML Modeling on Software Quality: An Industrial Case Study

“…While we are aware of the fact that not all system parts needs be modeled, the decisions to model or not model system parts should be based on informed decisions. For example, components' complexity and criticality have been considered by developers as good candidates for more extensive modeling [21]. Second, based on the results of this study we also emphasize the needs for good quality models, which comprise syntactical and semantical aspects of models.…”

The Relevance of Model-Driven Engineering Thirty Years from Now

“…Furthermore, the use of modeling has become sufficiently mature such that modeling standards have emerged. UML has been the de facto standard for object-oriented modeling [40]. Furthermore, commercial tools are also available for commonly used modeling languages, such as the Object Constraint Language (OCL), the Systems Modeling Language (SysML), and the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN).…”

“…Furthermore, commercial tools are also available for commonly used modeling languages, such as the Object Constraint Language (OCL), the Systems Modeling Language (SysML), and the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN). Recently, numerous studies have been performed to study the impact of modeling on various aspects of software development [23] [40], for use in specific domains, such as embedded systems [1], and to study the impact of the use of modeling languages in industry [43].…”