The Elements of UML(TM) 2.0 Style
Review
From reviews of The Elements of UML Style by Scott Ambler: 'Just as Strunk & White's The Elements of Style provides rules of usage for writing in English, this text furnishes a set of rules for modeling in the Unified Modeling Language.' IEEE Computer
Book Description
For all developers who create models using the Unified Modeling Language (UML) 2.x The Elements of UML(TM) 2.0 Style sets the rules for style that will improve your productivity - especially in teams, where understandability and consistency are critical. Coming from renowned UML expert Scott Ambler, the book furnishes a set of rules for modelling in the UML and describes a collection of standards and guidelines for creating effective UML diagrams that will be concise and easy to understand. It provides conventions for: Class diagrams; Timing Diagrams; Use case diagrams; Composite Structure Diagrams; Sequence diagrams; Interaction Overview Diagrams; Activity diagrams; Object diagrams; State machine diagrams; Package diagrams; Communication diagrams; Deployment diagrams and Component diagrams. The Elements of UML(TM) 2.0 Style sets the rules for style that will improve your productivity.
Reviewer: John R. Prince (Fort Worth, TX United States)
As others have noted, this book is not intended to "teach" you UML, but instead to build on (and subsequently enhance) one's knowledge of the UML.
The Good: It serves as a quick reference for your UML diagrams. That being before (and during) your artifact creation, this book can be used as a "check-list" to ensure your modeling techniques are sound. I personally use it as a "bathroom" book, in that you can pick it up at any point and quickly derive information based on your current need.
The Bad: The physical size (not the volume) of the book is rather small. I prefer larger books, but that is my subjective opinion. Additionally, the examples Ambler uses are the same old "Online Ordering", "School Enrollment", "Sales Clerk", etc. he uses in other literature he's produced. No big deal, really-but it would be nice to see new examples to drive his point across.
All in all, I would definitely recommend this book to ANYONE interested in increasing their UML knowledge. And for $10.00 it is a real bargain! Just remember, if you are wanting to learn UML basics, this book is not for you.
Links:
http://rapidshare.de/files/12215281/Cambridge_University_Press_-_The_Elements_of_UML_Style.rar