CSE 403

Design and UML Class Diagrams

Reading:
UML Distilled Ch. 3, by M. Fowler

These lecture slides are copyright (C) Marty Stepp, 2007. They may not be rehosted, sold, or
modified without expressed permission from the author. All rights reserved.
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 Big questions
 What is UML?
 Why should I bother? Do people really use UML?

 What is a UML class diagram?

 What kind of information goes into it?
 How do I create it?
 When should I create it?

2
 Design phase
 design: specifying the structure of how a
software system will be written and function,
without actually writing the complete
implementation

 a transition from "what" the system must do, to

"how" the system will do it
 What classes will we need to implement a system
that meets our requirements?
 What fields and methods will each class have?
 How will the classes interact with each other?

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 How do we design classes?
 class identification from project spec / requirements
 nouns are potential classes, objects, fields
 verbs are potential methods or responsibilities of a class

 CRC card exercises

 write down classes' names on index cards
 next to each class, list the following:
 responsibilities: problems to be solved; short verb phrases
 collaborators: other classes that are sent messages by this class
(asymmetric)

 UML diagrams
 class diagrams (today)
 sequence diagrams
 ...

4
 Introduction to UML
 UML: pictures of an OO system
 programming languages are not abstract enough for OO design
 UML is an open standard; lots of companies use it

 What is legal UML?

 a descriptive language: rigid formal syntax (like programming)
 a prescriptive language: shaped by usage and convention
 it's okay to omit things from UML diagrams if they aren't
needed by team/supervisor/instructor

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 Uses for UML
 as a sketch: to communicate aspects of system
 forward design: doing UML before coding
 backward design: doing UML after coding as documentation
 often done on whiteboard or paper
 used to get rough selective ideas

 as a blueprint: a complete design to be implemented

 sometimes done with CASE (Computer-Aided Software
Engineering) tools

 as a programming language: with the right tools, code

can be auto-generated and executed from UML
 only good if this is faster than coding in a "real" language
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 UML class diagrams
 What is a UML class diagram?
 UML class diagram: a picture of the classes in an
OO system, their fields and methods, and
connections between the classes that interact or
inherit from each other

 What are some things that are not represented in a

UML class diagram?
 details of how the classes interact with each other
 algorithmic details; how a particular behavior is
implemented

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 Diagram of one class
 class name in top of box
 write <<interface>> on top of interfaces' names
 use italics for an abstract class name

 attributes (optional)
 should include all fields of the object

 operations / methods (optional)

 may omit trivial (get/set) methods
 but don't omit any methods from an interface!
 should not include inherited methods

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 Class attributes
 attributes (fields, instance variables)
 visibility name : type [count] = default_value

 visibility:+ public
# protected
- private
~ package (default)
/ derived
 underline static attributes

 derived attribute: not stored, but can

be computed from other attribute values

 attribute example:
- balance : double = 0.00

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 Class operations / methods
 operations / methods
 visibility name (parameters) : return_type

 visibility:+ public
# protected
- private
~ package (default)
 underline static methods
 parameter types listed as (name: type)
 omit return_type on constructors and
when return type is void

 method example:
+ distance(p1: Point, p2: Point): double

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 Comments
 represented as a folded note, attached to the
appropriate class/method/etc by a dashed line

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 Relationships btwn. classes
 generalization: an inheritance relationship
 inheritance between classes
 interface implementation

 association: a usage relationship

 dependency
 aggregation
 composition

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 Generalization relationships
 generalization (inheritance) relationships
 hierarchies drawn top-down with arrows
pointing upward to parent
 line/arrow styles differ, based on whether
parent is a(n):
 class:

solid line, black arrow

 abstract class:

solid line, white arrow

 interface:

dashed line, white arrow

 we often don't draw trivial / obvious

generalization relationships, such as
drawing the Object class as a parent

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 Associational relationships
 associational (usage) relationships
1. multiplicity (how many are used)
 *  0, 1, or more
 1  1 exactly
 2..4  between 2 and 4, inclusive
 3..*  3 or more
2. name (what relationship the objects have)
3. navigability (direction)

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 Multiplicity of associations
 one-to-one
 each student must carry exactly one ID card

 one-to-many
 one rectangle list can contain many rectangles

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 Car

Association types
1
aggregation
 aggregation: "is part of" 1
Engine
 symbolized by a clear white diamond

 composition: "is entirely made of" Book

 stronger version of aggregation composition
 the parts live and die with the whole
1
 symbolized by a black diamond
*
Page
 dependency: "uses temporarily"
 symbolized by dotted line
 often is an implementation
detail, not an intrinsic part of dependency
that object's state
Lottery Random
Ticket
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Class diagram example 1

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 Class diagram example 2
Multiplicity

Customer Simple
1
Class Aggregation

Abstract Rental Invoice

Class

Rental Item 1..*

1 0..1

Composition Simple
Generalization
Association

Checkout Screen
DVD Movie VHS Movie Video Game

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 Class diagram example 3

StudentBody Student
1 100
- firstName : String
+ main (args : String[]) - lastName : String
- homeAddress : Address
- schoolAddress : Address

+ toString() : String
Address
- streetAddress : String
- city : String
- state : String
- zipCode : long

+ toString() : String

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 Tools for creating UML diags.
 Violet (free)
 http://horstmann.com/violet/

 Rational Rose
 http://www.rational.com/

 Visual Paradigm UML Suite (trial)

 http://www.visual-paradigm.com/
 (nearly) direct download link:
http://www.visual-paradigm.com/vp/download.jsp?product=vpuml&edition=ce

(there are many others, but most are commercial)

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 Class design exercise
 Consider this Texas Hold 'em poker game system:
 2 to 8 human or computer players
 Each player has a name and stack of chips
 Computer players have a difficulty setting: easy, medium, hard
 Summary of each hand:
 Dealer collects ante from appropriate players, shuffles the deck, and
deals each player a hand of 2 cards from the deck.
 A betting round occurs, followed by dealing 3 shared cards from the
deck.
 As shared cards are dealt, more betting rounds occur, where each
player can fold, check, or raise.
 At the end of a round, if more than one player is remaining, players'
hands are compared, and the best hand wins the pot of all chips bet
so far.
 What classes are in this system? What are their responsibilities?
Which classes collaborate?
 Draw a class diagram for this system. Include relationships
between classes (generalization and associational). 21