UML 2.0 spec to
come this fall （InfoWorld News)
August 21, 2002 10:08 AM
UML 2.0 spec to come this
fall
By Tom Sullivan
空格A NEW VERSION of the UML (Unified Modeling Language) specification will be submitted
to the OMG (Object Management Group) this fall and will include enhancements that
make model-driven development easier -- but most developers won't even see the
changes.
空格The forthcoming specification for UML 2.0 will build on the industry's experience
with UML 1.x, and the aim is to simplify model-driven development, according to
Grady Booch, chief scientist of Rational Software, in Lexington, Mass., which is
the author of UML.
空格"A lot of what is happening in [Version] 2.0 will
actually be utterly invisible to most mortal developers. But a lot is happening
under the surface to make it easier for tools vendors to move in the direction
of model-driven development," Booch said.
空格The idea, Booch continued, is
to bring the UML as a higher-level language that transcends most textual
languages and enables both code generation and reverse engineering, perhaps even
to the point of direct executability in some UML models.
Frank Gillett,
an analyst with Forrester Research, in Cambridge, Mass., said that while UML is
useful, it is not for every developer.
空格"UML seems to have done better
than all of the individual modeling languages that came before it," Gillett
said. "But it's not something I see at this point burgeoning beyond the groups
of architects that think strategically about the big picture."
空格UML,
however, is gaining traction among tools vendors. In addition to Rational, the
specification is supported by companies including Microsoft, Sun, IBM, Oracle,
Borland, and Compuware, which are all members of the consortium driving it.
"Every tier 1 major IDE has some form of modeling built into it," said John
Meyer, an analyst with Giga Information Group, in Cambridge, Mass.
空格Meyer
continued, saying that for UML to become mainstream, however, the specification
needs an injection of RAD (rapid application development) capabilities.
空格"The thing that is missing is the RAD. You need [to add] some ease of
use to what is a lengthy process when you're using UML," Meyer said.
空格Meyer said that the advantage of using UML is that companies are
thinking about and visualizing the code before embarking on large projects.
空格Rational's Booch said that once the specification is submitted, , it will
be open to discussion by consortium members, and those talks likely will take place late this year or early next year.