Extending UML to Visualize Design Patterns In Class Diagrams.
Jing Dong, Sheng Chih Yang · 2003
A design pattern describes a general solution to a design problem that recurs repeatedly in many projects. Software designers adapt the pattern solution to their specific project. Design patterns are usually modeled using UML. However, UML does not keep track of pattern-related information when a design pattern is applied or composed with other patterns. Thus, it is hard for a designer to identify design patterns in software system designs. The benefits of design patterns are compromised because the designers cannot communicate with each other in terms of the design patterns they use and their design decisions and tradeoffs. In this paper, we present the essential features of a new member of the UML language family that supports working with object-oriented design patterns. This UML extension allows the explicit representation of design patterns in software designs. We also discuss some of the relevant aspects of the UML profile which is based on standard UML extension mechanisms. A case study shows how it can be used to assist pattern-based software development.