2. Origin and objectives of UML

In software engineering, the advent of object-oriented technologies has coincided with a compelling need to streamline the development process. This need became apparent through the difficulties of mastering the development of software products of increasing size and complexity. This led to a proliferation of OO (object-oriented) methods designed to provide answers in terms of modeling at both analysis and design levels (less than 10 methods listed in 1989; more than 50 in 1994). Faced with such diversity, the choice is often difficult for users, and the quarrels between experts only complicate the problem of selection. The disparity of methods is, of course, a serious handicap when a project requires the collaboration of several players, and the introduction of a new method into the organization often generates very high appropriation costs. Standardization therefore appears to be the...