I like modeling. Not the kind Tyra does, although I do like it when Tyra does it, it's just not something that I do, not that I'd be any good at it anyway...Sorry, got off track. Anyway, I like to build models that express information in an organized and precise way. The notation I use doesn't really matter much, as long as it's easily understood by the reader. I have used a lot of notations in my career. I still have that green plastic IBM flow chart template that my Dad gave me years ago (I wonder what that would fetch on eBay?); I suffered through the CASE tool years (thanks James Martin); and I used notation from OMT, Booch, and OOSE before becoming an early adopter of UML starting with version 0.9 in 1996. UML has stuck with me through the years, and it has become a casual and efficient way to take notes and express things.
Earlier this week I was talking with a coworker about models and modeling, and I proposed an idea: What would a children's story look like if expressed in UML? I took this to task that night and produced The Three Little Pigs, in UML. Check it out and let me know what you think. The PDF document can be downloaded here. (It's set up to print it double sided on legal sized paper.)
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I think that is a great exercise for someone starting out with domain modeling, sequence diagramming, and OO in general!
ReplyDeleteBut wouldn't the eat() behavior belong to the wolf? As it is, it looks like the wolf is asking the pig to eat. How about a call back to wolf eat(firstLittlePig:Food) ?
Given Pigs are a type of Food.
I can imagine some very interesting conversations around an exercise like this. =)
... and for an interesting spin on the story, after the wolf is boiled to death, how about an eat(wolf:Food) call on the third little pig. =P
ReplyDeleteHi Ken,
ReplyDeleteNice idea. I run a series of articles in which I discuss and improve UML existing sequence diagrams.
Guess what, your diagram has just been pimped!
You can check it out here : Pimp my diagram episode 02 - Three Little Pigs.
Let me know what you think of it!
Best regards,
Yanic