UML Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Standard Object Modeling Language, by Martin Fowler and Kendall Scott, foreword by Grady Booch, Ivar Jacobson and James Rumbaugh. 185 pages. 2nd edition. Addison-Wesley 2000. ISBN 0-201-65783-X
UML Distilled is the only book everyone who designs object oriented programs should really consider buying. It describes UML - the Unified Modeling Language - that is very often used when making designs of computer programs and especially when there's a need to communicate with people about the program design.
UML Distilled is, as the name implies, a small and concise book. It can be read very quickly. This is important in case you feel that methodology and documentation is bad and would rather be reading other books... However, this book is interesting because it made me realize the importance of communication and methodology.
It also describes an good example of a basic program development process.
The book also has helpful examples, and very little actual code.
It also has nice "reference" of UML diagrams in the inside covers.
Probably not much of an interest for pure code slaves, but for those who actually need to design programs, this book is just great, and a very gentle book too.
Contents:
- Introduction
- An Outline of Development Process
- Use Cases
- Class Diagrams: The Essentials
- Interaction Diagrams
- Class Diagrams: Advanced Concepts
- Packages and Collaborations
- State Diagrams
- Activity Diagrams
- Physical Diagrams
- UML and Programming
- Techniques and their uses
- Changes between UML Versions