Software Architecture & UML Unified Modeling Language Tools: use cases, class, sequence, object diagrams

This web site presents a list of free, open source and commercial Unified Modeling Language (UML) tools, that can be used to model systems and software architecture using the UML diagrams: Activity diagram, Class diagram, Communication diagram, Component diagram, Composite structure diagram, Deployment diagram, Interaction overview diagram, Object diagram, Package diagram, Sequence diagram, State diagram, Timing diagram, UML state machine, Use case diagram. Some of the tools presented here are independent UML tools that can be used on a desktop computer or online, other are UML plugins that should be used with an IDE like Eclipse. The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a modeling language for system definition standardized by the Object Management Group (OMG). It is used mainly for requirements, architecture and design software development activities. The UML has been created by Grady Booch, Yvar Jacobson and and James Rumbaugh in the 90s combining existing techniques and models from data modeling, business modeling, object modeling and component modeling.

ArgoUML open source UML tool
ArgoUML open source UML tool use cases diagram screen
(source http://www.methodsandtools.com/tools/tools.php?argouml)

Some of the main features that you can find in commercial or open source UML tools and plugins are the definition of projects, drawing UML diagrams, verification of models, exporting models figures in other formats (jpg, png, ...) describing use cases, database schema generation, Java and C++ code generation, reverse engineering, reports generation and integration with office software. The best-known open source UML tools are Modelio, Umlet, Papyrus, ArgoUML, BOUML, PlantUML, UMLet and Violet UML. The best-known commercial UML tools Enterprise Architect, MagicDraw, StarUML 2, Astah*, UModel and Visual Paradigm.

With Commercial or open source software architecture tools you can plan and manage your enterprise architecture or create models of the logical and physical architecture of applications of software systems. Some other features are the Java and C++ code generation, reverse engineering, architecture analysis, reports generation and integration with office software.

Archi - Open Source Enterprise and Software Architecture Modeling
Archi open source software architecture tool ArchiMate diagram screen
(source http://www.methodsandtools.com/tools/archi.php)

UML is a registered trademark and the Unified Modeling Language is a trademark of the Object Management Group (OMG). This web site is not related to the OMG.