Visual Modeling with IBM Rational Software Architect and UML

“Terry’s style is always direct, approachable, and pragmatic. Abstraction is hard, and visualizing abstractions is as well, but here she’ll guide you in doing both using Rational Software Architect.”
—From the Foreword by Grady Booch, IBM FellowMaster UML 2.0 Visual Modeling with IBM Rational Software Architect

Using IBM Rational Software Architect, you can unify all aspects of software design and development. It allows you to exploit new modeling language technology to architect systems more effectively and develop them more productively.

Now, two of IBM’s leading experts have written the definitive, start-to-finish guide to UML 2-based visual modeling with Rational Software Architect. You’ll learn hands-on, using a simplified case study that’s already helped thousands of professionals master analysis, design, and implementation with IBM Rational technologies.

Renowned UML expert Terry Quatrani and J2EE/SOA evangelist Jim Palistrant walk you through visualizing all facets of system architecture at every stage of the project lifecycle. Whether you’re an architect, developer, or project manager, you’ll discover how to leverage IBM Rational’s latest innovations to optimize any project.

• Making the most of model-driven development with Rational Software Architect’s integrated design and development tools
• Understanding visual modeling: goals, techniques, language, and processes
• Beginning any visual modeling project: sound principles and best practices
• Capturing and documenting functional requirements with use case models
• Creating analysis models that begin to reveal your optimal system implementation
• Building design models that abstract your implementation model and source code
• Using implementation models to represent your system’s physical composition, from subsystems to executables and data
• Transforming these models to actual running code

The IBM Press developerWorks® Series is a unique undertaking in which print books and the Web are mutually supportive. The publications in this series are complemented by resources on the developerWorks Web site on ibm.com. Icons throughout the book alert the reader to these valuable resources.

“Terry’s style is always direct, approachable, and pragmatic. Abstraction is hard, and visualizing abstractions is as well, but here she’ll guide you in doing both using Rational Software Architect.”
—From the Foreword by Grady Booch, IBM FellowMaster UML 2.0 Visual Modeling with IBM Rational Software Architect

Using IBM Rational Software Architect, you can unify all aspects of software design and development. It allows you to exploit new modeling language technology to architect systems more effectively and develop them more productively.

Now, two of IBM’s leading experts have written the definitive, start-to-finish guide to UML 2-based visual modeling with Rational Software Architect. You’ll learn hands-on, using a simplified case study that’s already helped thousands of professionals master analysis, design, and implementation with IBM Rational technologies.

Renowned UML expert Terry Quatrani and J2EE/SOA evangelist Jim Palistrant walk you through visualizing all facets of system architecture at every stage of the project lifecycle. Whether you’re an architect, developer, or project manager, you’ll discover how to leverage IBM Rational’s latest innovations to optimize any project.

• Making the most of model-driven development with Rational Software Architect’s integrated design and development tools
• Understanding visual modeling: goals, techniques, language, and processes
• Beginning any visual modeling project: sound principles and best practices
• Capturing and documenting functional requirements with use case models
• Creating analysis models that begin to reveal your optimal system implementation
• Building design models that abstract your implementation model and source code
• Using implementation models to represent your system’s physical composition, from subsystems to executables and data
• Transforming these models to actual running code

The IBM Press developerWorks® Series is a unique undertaking in which print books and the Web are mutually supportive. The publications in this series are complemented by resources on the developerWorks Web site on ibm.com. Icons throughout the book alert the reader to these valuable resources.

Foreword xvPreface xviiAbout the Authors xxiiiChapter 1: Introduction to Visual Modeling 1

The Triangle for Success 4

The Role of Notation 5

History of the UML 5

The Role of Process 8

What Is Iterative and Incremental Development? 8

The Rational Unified Process 9

Rational Software Architect 12

Summary 13

developerWorks Links 14

Defining the Right Project 17

Eastern State University (ESU) Background 18

Risks for the Course Registration Problem 19

ESU Course Registration Problem Statement 19

Summary 20

System Behavior 23

Actors 27

Use Cases 31

Use Case Diagrams 43

Activity Diagrams 50

Summary 57

developerWorks Links 58

Creating an Analysis Model 63

Analysis Model Template 64

Use Case Realizations 66

Documenting Classes 75

Distributing Behavior 80

Sequence Diagrams 81

View of Participating Classes 87

Summary 92

developerWorks Links 93

Design Model 97

Design Elements 101

Identifying Design Elements from Analysis Classes 105

Class Diagrams 109

User Interfaces 120

Summary 125

developerWorks Links 125

Persistence Choices 129

Service Data Objects 131

User Interface Choices 134

JavaServer Faces 136

Tying It Together 137

Summary 161

developerWorks Links 161

UML Definition Documents 165

Specification Document Structure 165

Metamodel Structure 166

Terry Quatrani, IBM Rational’s UML Evangelist, is responsible for training and transitioning Fortune 500 companies to object technology and for preaching the visual modeling gospel of Grady Booch, Jim Rumbaugh, and Ivar Jacobson. She has spent twenty-one years developing and deploying large software systems. Formerly at GE, she was founding consultant for the Lockheed Martin Advanced Concepts Center.

Jim Palistrant, IBM Rational’s J2EE and SOA Evangelist, educates customers and the IBM field force about J2EE and SOA concepts and tools. A frequent speaker at technical conferences worldwide, he has worked with Java, J2EE, and Web technology since 1995.