UML distilled

What Hacker News says

1. undecimeNov 2025
   I like "UML Distilled, 3rd Edition" by Martin Fowler. Good to-the-point introduction and summary.
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2. layer8Jun 2023
   It would be useful if everyone would at least be vaguely familiar with basic UML notation, i.e. action vs. object, multiplicity, connectors (association vs. composition vs. dependency vs. specialization, interface/implementation), class vs. instance, fork/join, swimlanes, etc. Otherwise you have to clarify over and over what means what in a diagram.

   One powerful aspect of UML is that you can combine different diagram types. For example, you can use activity-diagram elements in parts of a sequence diagram.

   For pragmatic use, “UML Distilled” [0] by Martin Fowler is a good introduction and reference.

   [0] https://martinfowler.com/books/uml.html

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3. layer8Oct 2022
   Activity diagrams can be very useful as well, and you can mix and match various UML elements in them, it's a very flexible visual language. Also state diagrams, of course, as a sibling already noted.

   I can recommend Martin Fowler's "UML Distilled" for a pragmatic approach (ISBN 9780321193681).

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4. cratermoonApr 2021
   Yup, and the only UML book I ever bought and used, UML Distilled, was written by Fowler and Kendall Scott. It's a slim book, and notably says little to nothing about UML as a CASE tool. There's definitely nothing about any specific program for generating code, and not much about generating diagrams from code, either.
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5. xliiNov 2020
   Tl;dr use strategy pattern where applicable.

   One of the best programming books I read was UML Distilled (which introduced the idea of some pattern beside teaching UML) and Design Patterns (Shalloway, Trott).

   The moment I started reading this post I thought “that’s a strategy pattern use case”. And that’s the conclusion.

   A lot of people fret upon reinventing the wheel (use library instead!) but then they do so very often with the software design where a lot of problems are not only well researched but also peer reviewed and properly described with consequences that come with them.

   If you enjoyed this article I would recommend picking up book on design patterns (any popular will do) as there are many more prefabricated solutions to choose from.

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6. swileySep 2020
   Math books are very cheap and very information dense. I'm going through Mendelson's "Introduction to Topology" right now. It's very good and cost only $10.

   Harmony by Walter Piston (and also "Twenty First Century Harmony," the book it inspired) is IMO one of the better books I've read on western music theory. I got my copy used for $20.

   SICP is nice to loan out (and also nice to read, it covers some pretty weird and advanced topics near the ends of the chapters), my girlfriend is going through my copy. ~$20.

   A couple Oreily books for whatever you're doing at work ~$120 (although double check, believe it or not there are a couple duds.)

   UML distilled by Martin Fowler is very good. ~$20?

   The art of electronics is a great book, I personally learned a lot from this kind of weird book titled "Basic Pulse Circuits" I found at a used book store for ~$10.

   Then leave the extra $100 for whatever interesting thing you find at good book stores (I've had the best luck in college towns in Appalachian Virginia.)

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