SWE233: OOM & UML Lecture Notes November 2023

UML ─ Overview

UML is a standard language for specifying, visualizing, constructing, and documenting the
artifacts of software systems.
UML was created by the Object Management Group (OMG) and UML 1.0 specification
draft was proposed to the OMG in January 1997.

OMG is continuously making efforts to create a truly industry standard.

• UML stands for Unified Modeling Language.
• UML is different from the other common programming languages such as C++,
Java, COBOL, etc.
• UML is a pictorial language used to make software blueprints.
• UML can be described as a general purpose visual modeling language to visualize,
specify, construct, and document software system.
• Although UML is generally used to model software systems, it is not limited within
this boundary. It is also used to model non-software systems as well. For example, the
process flow in a manufacturing unit, etc.

UML is not a programming language, but tools can be used to generate code in various
languages using UML diagrams. UML has a direct relation with object oriented analysis and
design. After some standardization, UML has become an OMG standard.

Goals of UML
A picture is worth a thousand words; this idiom absolutely fits describing UML.

Object-oriented concepts were introduced much earlier than UML. At that point of time,
there were no standard methodologies to organize and consolidate the object-oriented
development. It was then that UML came into picture.

There are a number of goals for developing UML but the most important is to define some
general purpose modeling language, which all modelers can use and it also needs to be
made simple to understand and use.

UML diagrams are not only made for developers but also for business users, common
people, and anybody interested to understand the system. The system can be a software
or non-software system. Thus it must be clear that UML is not a development method
rather it accompanies with processes to make it a successful system.
In conclusion, the goal of UML can be defined as a simple modeling mechanism to model
all possible practical systems in today’s complex environment.

A Conceptual of UML
To understand the conceptual model of UML, first we need to clarify what is a conceptual
model? and why a conceptual model is required?
• A conceptual model can be defined as a model which is made of concepts and their
relationships.
• A conceptual model is the first step before drawing a UML diagram. It helps to understand

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the entities in the real world and how they interact with each other.

As UML describes the real-time systems, it is very important to make a conceptual model
and then proceed gradually. The conceptual model of UML can be mastered by learning
the following three major elements:
• UML building blocks
• Rules to connect the building blocks
• Common mechanisms of UML

Object-Oriented Concepts
UML can be described as the successor of object-oriented (OO) analysis and design.
An object contains both data and methods that control the data. The data represents the
state of the object.
A class describes an object and they also form a hierarchy to model the real-world system.
The hierarchy is represented as inheritance and the classes can also be associated in
different ways as per the requirement.

Objects are the real-world entities that exist around us and the basic concepts such as
abstraction, encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism all can be represented using
UML.

UML is powerful enough to represent all the concepts that exist in object-oriented analysis
and design. UML diagrams are representation of object-oriented concepts only.

Thus, before learning UML, it becomes important to understand OO concept in detail.

Following are some fundamental concepts of the object-oriented world:

• Objects: Objects represent an entity and the basic building block.
• Class: Class is the blueprint of an object.
• Abstraction: Abstraction represents the behavior of a real world entity.
• Encapsulation: Encapsulation is the mechanism of binding the data together and hiding
them from the outside world.
• Inheritance: Inheritance is the mechanism of making new classes from existing
ones.
• Polymorphism: It defines the mechanism to exist in different forms.

OO Analysis and Design

OO can be defined as an investigation and to be more specific, it is the investigation of
objects. Design means collaboration of identified objects.
Thus, it is important to understand the OO analysis and design concepts. The most
important purpose of OO analysis is to identify objects of a system to be designed. This
analysis is also done for an existing system. Now an efficient analysis is only possible when
we are able to start thinking in a way where objects can be identified. After identifying the
objects, their relationships are identified and finally the design is produced.

The purpose of OO analysis and design can described as:

• Identifying the objects of a system.

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• Identifying their relationships.

• Making a design, which can be converted to executables using OO languages.

There are three basic steps where the OO concepts are applied and implemented. The
steps can be defined as

OO Analysis --> OO Design --> OO implementation using OO languages

The above three points can be described in detail as:

• During OO analysis, the most important purpose is to identify objects and describe
them in a proper way. If these objects are identified efficiently, then the next job
of design is easy. The objects should be identified with responsibilities.

Responsibilities are the functions performed by the object. Each and every object
has some type of responsibilities to be performed. When these responsibilities are
collaborated, the purpose of the system is fulfilled.

• The second phase is OO design. During this phase, emphasis is placed on the
requirements and their fulfilment. In this stage, the objects are collaborated
according to their intended association. After the association is complete, the
design is also complete.

• The third phase is OO implementation. In this phase, the design is implemented

using OO languages such as Java, C++, etc.

Role of UML in OO Design

UML is a modeling language used to model software and non-software systems. Although
UML is used for non-software systems, the emphasis is on modeling OO software
applications. Most of the UML diagrams discussed so far are used to model different
aspects such as static, dynamic, etc. Now whatever be the aspect, the artifacts are
nothing but objects.

If we look into class diagram, object diagram, collaboration diagram, interaction diagrams
all would basically be designed based on the objects.

Hence, the relation between OO design and UML is very important to understand. The OO
design is transformed into UML diagrams according to the requirement. Before
understanding the UML in detail, the OO concept should be learned properly.

Once the OO analysis and design is done, the next step is very easy. The input from OO
analysis and design is the input to UML diagrams.

UML ─ Building Blocks

As UML describes the real-time systems, it is very important to make a conceptual model
and then proceed gradually. The conceptual model of UML can be mastered by learning
the following three major elements:
• UML building blocks

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• Rules to connect the building blocks

• Common mechanisms of UML

The building blocks of UML can be defined as:

• Things
• Relationships
• Diagrams

Things
Things are the most important building blocks of UML. Things can be:
• Structural
• Behavioral
• Grouping
• Annotational

Structural Things
Structural things define the static part of the model. They represent the physical and
conceptual elements.

Following are the brief descriptions of the structural things.

Class: Class represents a set of objects having similar responsibilities.

Interface: Interface defines a set of operations, which specify the responsibility of a class.

Collaboration: Collaboration defines an interaction between elements.

Use case: Use case represents a set of actions performed by a system for a specific goal

Component: Component describes the physical part of a system

Node: A node can be defined as a physical element that exists at run time

Behavioral Things
A behavioral thing consists of the dynamic parts of UML models.

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Following are the behavioral things:

Interaction: Interaction is defined as a behavior that consists of a group of messages
exchanged among elements to accomplish a specific task.

State machine: State machine is useful when the state of an object in its life cycle is
important. It defines the sequence of states an object goes through in response to events.
Events are external factors responsible for state change.

Grouping Things
Grouping things can be defined as a mechanism to group elements of a UML model
together.
There is only one grouping thing available:
Package: Package is the only one grouping thing available for gathering structural and
behavioral things.

Annotational Things
Annotational things can be defined as a mechanism to capture remarks, descriptions, and
comments of UML model elements.
Note is the only one Annotational thing available. A note is used to render comments,
constraints, etc. of an UML element.

Relationships
Relationship is another most important building block of UML. It shows how the elements
are associated with each other and this association describes the functionality of an
application.

There are four kinds of relationships available.

Dependency
Dependency is a relationship between two things in which change in one element also
affects the other.

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Association
Association is basically a set of links that connects the elements of a UML model. It also
describes how many objects are taking part in that relationship.

Generalization
Generalization can be defined as a relationship which connects a specialized element with
a generalized element. It basically describes the inheritance relationship in the world of
objects.

Realization
Realization can be defined as a relationship in which two elements are connected. One
element describes some responsibility, which is not implemented and the other one
implements them. This relationship exists in case of interfaces.

UML Diagrams
UML diagrams are the ultimate output of the entire discussion. All the elements, relationships
are used to make a complete UML diagram and the diagram represents a system.

The visual effect of the UML diagram is the most important part of the entire process. All the
other elements are used to make it complete.

UML includes the following nine diagrams, the details of which are described in the
subsequent topics.
• Class diagram
• Object diagram
• Use case diagram
• Sequence diagram
• Collaboration diagram
• Activity diagram
• Statechart diagram
• Deployment diagram
• Component diagram

UML - Architecture

Any real-world system is used by different users. The users can be developers, testers,
business people, analysts, and many more. Hence, before designing a system, the
architecture is made with different perspectives in mind. The most important part is to

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visualize the system from the perspective of different viewers. The better we understand the
better we can build the system.

UML plays an important role in defining different perspectives of a system. These

perspectives are −
• Design
• Implementation
• Process
• Deployment

The center is the Use Case view which connects all these four. A Use Case represents the
functionality of the system. Hence, other perspectives are connected with use case.

Design of a system consists of classes, interfaces, and collaboration. UML provides class
diagram, object diagram to support this.

Implementation defines the components assembled together to make a complete physical

system. UML component diagram is used to support the implementation perspective.

Process defines the flow of the system. Hence, the same elements as used in Design are
also used to support this perspective.

Deployment represents the physical nodes of the system that forms the hardware. UML
deployment diagram is used to support this perspective.

UML - Modeling Types

It is very important to distinguish between the UML model. Different diagrams are used for
different types of UML modeling. There are three important types of UML modeling.

Structural Modeling
Structural modeling captures the static features of a system. They consist of the following −
• Classes diagrams
• Objects diagrams
• Deployment diagrams
• Package diagrams
• Composite structure diagram
• Component diagram

Structural model represents the framework for the system and this framework is the place
where all other components exist. Hence, the class diagram, component diagram and
deployment diagrams are part of structural modeling. They all represent the elements and
the mechanism to assemble them.

The structural model never describes the dynamic behavior of the system. Class diagram is
the most widely used structural diagram.

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Behavioral Modeling
Behavioral model describes the interaction in the system. It represents the interaction
among the structural diagrams. Behavioral modeling shows the dynamic nature of the
system. They consist of the following −
• Activity diagrams
• Interaction diagrams
• Use case diagrams

All the above show the dynamic sequence of flow in a system.

Architectural Modeling
Architectural model represents the overall framework of the system. It contains both
structural and behavioral elements of the system. Architectural model can be defined as
the blueprint of the entire system. Package diagram comes under architectural modeling.

UML - Basic Notations

UML is popular for its diagrammatic notations. We all know that UML is for visualizing,
specifying, constructing and documenting the components of software and non-software
systems. Hence, visualization is the most important part which needs to be understood and
remembered.

UML notations are the most important elements in modeling. Efficient and appropriate use
of notations is very important for making a complete and meaningful model. The model is
useless, unless its purpose is depicted properly.

Hence, learning notations should be emphasized from the very beginning. Different
notations are available for things and relationships. UML diagrams are made using the
notations of things and relationships. Extensibility is another important feature which makes
UML more powerful and flexible.

This section describes basic UML notations in detail.

Structural Things
Graphical notations used in structural things are most widely used in UML. These are
considered as the nouns of UML models. Following are the list of structural things.
• Classes
• Object
• Interface
• Collaboration
• Use case
• Active classes
• Components
• Nodes

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Class Notation
UML class is represented by the following figure. The diagram is divided into four parts.
• The top section is used to name the class.
• The second one is used to show the attributes of the class.
• The third section is used to describe the operations performed by the class.
• The fourth section is optional to show any additional components.

Classes are used to represent objects. Objects can be anything having properties and
responsibility.

Object Notation
The object is represented in the same way as the class. The only difference is
the name which is underlined as shown in the following figure.

As the object is an actual implementation of a class, which is known as the instance of a

class. Hence, it has the same usage as the class.

Interface Notation
Interface is represented by a circle as shown in the following figure. It has a name which is
generally written below the circle.

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Interface is used to describe the functionality without implementation. Interface is just like a
template where you define different functions, not the implementation. When a class
implements the interface, it also implements the functionality as per requirement.
Collaboration Notation
Collaboration is represented by a dotted eclipse as shown in the following figure. It has a
name written inside the eclipse.

Collaboration represents responsibilities. Generally, responsibilities are in a group.

Use Case Notation

Use case is represented as an eclipse with a name inside it. It may contain additional
responsibilities.

Use case is used to capture high level functionalities of a system

Actor Notation
An actor can be defined as some internal or external entity that interacts with the system.

An actor is used in a use case diagram to describe the internal or external entities.

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Initial State Notation

Initial state is defined to show the start of a process. This notation is used in almost all
diagrams.

The usage of Initial State Notation is to show the starting point of a process.

Final State Notation

Final state is used to show the end of a process. This notation is also used in almost all
diagrams to describe the end.

The usage of Final State Notation is to show the termination point of a process.

Active Class Notation

Active class looks similar to a class with a solid border. Active class is generally used to
describe the concurrent behavior of a system

Active class is used to represent the concurrency in a system.

Component Notation
A component in UML is shown in the following figure with a name inside. Additional
elements can be added wherever required.

Component is used to represent any part of a system for which UML diagrams are made.

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Node Notation
A node in UML is represented by a square box as shown in the following figure with a name.
A node represents the physical component of the system

Node is used to represent the physical part of a system such as the server, network, etc.

Behavioral Things
Dynamic parts are one of the most important elements in UML. UML has a set of powerful
features to represent the dynamic part of software and non-software systems. These
features include interactions and state machines.
Interactions can be of two types −
• Sequential (Represented by sequence diagram)
• Collaborative (Represented by collaboration diagram)

Interaction Notation
Interaction is basically a message exchange between two UML components. The following
diagram represents different notations used in an interaction.

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Interaction is used to represent the communication among the components of a system.

State Machine Notation

State machine describes the different states of a component in its life cycle. The notations
are described in the following diagram.

State machine is used to describe different states of a system component. The state can be
active, idle, or any other depending upon the situation.

Grouping Things
Organizing the UML models is one of the most important aspects of the design. In UML,
there is only one element available for grouping and that is package.

Package Notation
Package notation is shown in the following figure and is used to wrap the components of a
system.

Annotational Things
In any diagram, explanation of different elements and their functionalities are very
important. Hence, UML has notes notation to support this requirement.
Note Notation

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Annotational Things
In any diagram, explanation of different elements and their functionalities are very
important. Hence, UML has notes notation to support this requirement.

Note Notation
This notation is shown in the following figure. These notations are used to provide necessary
information of a system.

Relationships
A model is not complete unless the relationships between elements are described properly.
The Relationship gives a proper meaning to a UML model. Following are the different types
of relationships available in UML.
• Dependency
• Association
• Generalization
• Extensibility

Dependency Notation
Dependency is an important aspect in UML elements. It describes the dependent elements
and the direction of dependency.
Dependency is represented by a dotted arrow as shown in the following figure. The arrow
head represents the independent element and the other end represents the dependent
element.

Dependency is used to represent the dependency between two elements of a system

Association Notation
Association describes how the elements in a UML diagram are associated. In simple words,
it describes how many elements are taking part in an interaction.

Association is represented by a dotted line with (without) arrows on both sides. The two
ends represent two associated elements as shown in the following figure. The multiplicity is
also mentioned at the ends (1, *, etc.) to show how many objects are associated.

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Association is used to represent the relationship between two elements of a system.

Generalization Notation
Generalization describes the inheritance relationship of the object-oriented world. It is a
parent and child relationship.
Generalization is represented by an arrow with a hollow arrow head as shown in the
following figure. One end represents the parent element and the other end represents the
child element.

Generalization is used to describe parent-child relationship of two elements of a system.

Extensibility Notation
All the languages (programming or modeling) have some mechanism to extend its
capabilities such as syntax, semantics, etc. UML also has the following mechanisms to
provide extensibility features.
• Stereotypes (Represents new elements)
• Tagged values (Represents new attributes)
• Constraints (Represents the boundaries)

Extensibility notations are used to enhance the power of the language. It is basically
additional elements used to represent some extra behavior of the system. These extra
behaviors are not covered by the standard available notations.

UML - Standard Diagrams

We prepare UML diagrams to understand the system in a better and simple way. A single
diagram is not enough to cover all the aspects of the system. UML defines various kinds of
diagrams to cover most of the aspects of a system.

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You can also create your own set of diagrams to meet your requirements. Diagrams are
generally made in an incremental and iterative way.

There are two broad categories of diagrams and they are again divided into subcategories
−
• Structural Diagrams
• Behavioral Diagrams

Structural Diagrams
The structural diagrams represent the static aspect of the system. These static aspects
represent those parts of a diagram, which forms the main structure and are therefore
stable.
These static parts are represented by classes, interfaces, objects, components, and nodes.
The four structural diagrams are −
• Class diagram
• Object diagram
• Component diagram
• Deployment diagram

Class Diagram
Class diagrams are the most common diagrams used in UML. Class diagram consists of
classes, interfaces, associations, and collaboration. Class diagrams basically represent the
object-oriented view of a system, which is static in nature.

Active class is used in a class diagram to represent the concurrency of the system.

Class diagram represents the object orientation of a system. Hence, it is generally used for
development purpose. This is the most widely used diagram at the time of system
construction.

Object Diagram
Object diagrams can be described as an instance of class diagram. Thus, these diagrams
are more close to real-life scenarios where we implement a system.

Object diagrams are a set of objects and their relationship is just like class diagrams. They
also represent the static view of the system.

The usage of object diagrams is similar to class diagrams but they are used to build
prototype of a system from a practical perspective.

Component Diagram
Component diagrams represent a set of components and their relationships. These
components consist of classes, interfaces, or collaborations. Component diagrams
represent the implementation view of a system.

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During the design phase, software artifacts (classes, interfaces, etc.) of a system are
arranged in different groups depending upon their relationship. Now, these groups are
known as components.

Finally, it can be said component diagrams are used to visualize the implementation.

Deployment Diagram
Deployment diagrams are a set of nodes and their relationships. These nodes are physical
entities where the components are deployed.
Deployment diagrams are used for visualizing the deployment view of a system. This is
generally used by the deployment team.

Note − If the above descriptions and usages are observed carefully then it is very clear that
all the diagrams have some relationship with one another. Component diagrams are
dependent upon the classes, interfaces, etc. which are part of class/object diagram.
Again, the deployment diagram is dependent upon the components, which are used to
make component diagrams

Behavioral Diagrams
Any system can have two aspects, static and dynamic. So, a model is considered as
complete when both the aspects are fully covered.

Behavioral diagrams basically capture the dynamic aspect of a system. Dynamic aspect
can be further described as the changing/moving parts of a system.

UML has the following five types of behavioral diagrams −

• Use case diagram
• Sequence diagram
• Collaboration diagram
• Statechart diagram
• Activity diagram
Use Case Diagram
Use case diagrams are a set of use cases, actors, and their relationships. They represent the
use case view of a system.

A use case represents a particular functionality of a system. Hence, use case diagram is
used to describe the relationships among the functionalities and their internal/external
controllers. These controllers are known as actors.

Sequence Diagram
A sequence diagram is an interaction diagram. From the name, it is clear that the diagram
deals with some sequences, which are the sequence of messages flowing from one object
to another.

Interaction among the components of a system is very important from implementation and
execution perspective. Sequence diagram is used to visualize the sequence of calls in a
system to perform a specific functionality.

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Collaboration Diagram
Collaboration diagram is another form of interaction diagram. It represents the structural
organization of a system and the messages sent/received. Structural organization consists
of objects and links.

The purpose of collaboration diagram is similar to sequence diagram. However, the specific
purpose of collaboration diagram is to visualize the organization of objects and their
interaction.

Statechart Diagram
Any real-time system is expected to be reacted by some kind of internal/external events.
These events are responsible for state change of the system.

Statechart diagram is used to represent the event driven state change of a system. It
basically describes the state change of a class, interface, etc.

State chart diagram is used to visualize the reaction of a system by internal/external factors.

Activity Diagram
Activity diagram describes the flow of control in a system. It consists of activities and links.
The flow can be sequential, concurrent, or branched.

Activities are nothing but the functions of a system. Numbers of activity diagrams are
prepared to capture the entire flow in a system.

Activity diagrams are used to visualize the flow of controls in a system. This is prepared to
have an idea of how the system will work when executed.

Note − Dynamic nature of a system is very difficult to capture. UML has provided features to
capture the dynamics of a system

Note − Dynamic nature of a system is very difficult to capture. UML has provided features to
capture the dynamics of a system from different angles. Sequence diagrams and
collaboration diagrams are isomorphic, hence they can be converted from one another
without losing any information. This is also true for Statechart and activity diagram.

UML - Class Diagram

Class diagram is a static diagram. It represents the static view of an application. Class
diagram is not only used for visualizing, describing, and documenting different aspects of a
system but also for constructing executable code of the software application.

Class diagram describes the attributes and operations of a class and also the constraints
imposed on the system. The class diagrams are widely used in the modeling of object-
oriented systems because they are the only UML diagrams, which can be mapped directly
with object-oriented languages.

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Class diagram shows a collection of classes, interfaces, associations, collaborations, and

constraints. It is also known as a structural diagram.

Purpose of Class Diagrams

The purpose of class diagram is to model the static view of an application. Class diagrams
are the only diagrams which can be directly mapped with object-oriented languages and
thus widely used at the time of construction.

UML diagrams like activity diagram, sequence diagram can only give the sequence flow of
the application, however class diagram is a bit different. It is the most popular UML diagram
in the coder community.

The purpose of the class diagram can be summarized as −

• Analysis and design of the static view of an application.
• Describe responsibilities of a system.
• Base for component and deployment diagrams.
• Forward and reverse engineering.

How to Draw a Class Diagram?

Class diagrams are the most popular UML diagrams used for construction of software
applications. It is very important to learn the drawing procedure of class diagram.

Class diagrams have a lot of properties to consider while drawing but here the diagram will
be considered from a top level view.

Class diagram is basically a graphical representation of the static view of the system and
represents different aspects of the application. A collection of class diagrams represent the
whole system.

The following points should be remembered while drawing a class diagram −

• The name of the class diagram should be meaningful to describe the aspect of the
system.
• Each element and their relationships should be identified in advance.
• Responsibility (attributes and methods) of each class should be clearly identified
• For each class, minimum number of properties should be specified, as unnecessary
properties will make the diagram complicated.
• Use notes whenever required to describe some aspect of the diagram. At the end of
the drawing it should be understandable to the developer/coder.
• Finally, before making the final version, the diagram should be drawn on plain paper
and reworked as many times as possible to make it correct.

The following diagram is an example of an Order System of an application. It describes a

particular aspect of the entire application.
• First of all, Order and Customer are identified as the two elements of the system. They
have a one-to-many relationship because a customer can have multiple orders.
• Order class is an abstract class and it has two concrete classes (inheritance
relationship) SpecialOrder and NormalOrder.
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• The two inherited classes have all the properties as the Order class. In addition, they
have additional functions like dispatch () and receive ().

The following class diagram has been drawn considering all the points mentioned above.

Where to Use Class Diagrams?

Class diagram is a static diagram and it is used to model the static view of a system. The
static view describes the vocabulary of the system.
Class diagram is also considered as the foundation for component and deployment
diagrams. Class diagrams are not only used to visualize the static view of the system but
they are also used to construct the executable code for forward and reverse engineering
of any system.

Generally, UML diagrams are not directly mapped with any object-oriented programming
languages but the class diagram is an exception.

Class diagram clearly shows the mapping with object-oriented languages such as Java,
C++, etc. From practical experience, class diagram is generally used for construction
purpose.

In a nutshell it can be said, class diagrams are used for −

• Describing the static view of the system.
• Showing the collaboration among the elements of the static view.
• Describing the functionalities performed by the system.
• Construction of software applications using object oriented languages.

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UML - Object Diagrams

Object diagrams are derived from class diagrams so object diagrams are dependent upon
class diagrams.

Object diagrams represent an instance of a class diagram. The basic concepts are similar
for class diagrams and object diagrams. Object diagrams also represent the static view of
a system but this static view is a snapshot of the system at a particular moment.

Object diagrams are used to render a set of objects and their relationships as an instance.

Purpose of Object Diagrams

The purpose of a diagram should be understood clearly to implement it practically. The
purposes of object diagrams are similar to class diagrams.

The difference is that a class diagram represents an abstract model consisting of classes
and their relationships. However, an object diagram represents an instance at a particular
moment, which is concrete in nature.

It means the object diagram is closer to the actual system behavior. The purpose is to
capture the static view of a system at a particular moment.

The purpose of the object diagram can be summarized as −

• Forward and reverse engineering.
• Object relationships of a system
• Static view of an interaction.
• Understand object behaviour and their relationship from practical perspective

How to Draw an Object Diagram?

We have already discussed that an object diagram is an instance of a class diagram. It
implies that an object diagram consists of instances of things used in a class diagram.

So both diagrams are made of same basic elements but in different form. In class diagram
elements are in abstract form to represent the blue print and in object diagram the
elements are in concrete form to represent the real world object.

To capture a particular system, numbers of class diagrams are limited. However, if we

consider object diagrams then we can have unlimited number of instances, which are
unique in nature. Only those instances are considered, which have an impact on the
system.

From the above discussion, it is clear that a single object diagram cannot capture all the
necessary instances or rather cannot specify all the objects of a system. Hence, the solution
is −
• First, analyze the system and decide which instances have important data and
association.
• Second, consider only those instances, which will cover the functionality.

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• Third, make some optimization as the number of instances are unlimited.

Before drawing an object diagram, the following things should be remembered and
understood clearly −
• Object diagrams consist of objects.
• The link in object diagram is used to connect objects.
• Objects and links are the two elements used to construct an object diagram.
After this, the following things are to be decided before starting the construction of the
diagram −
• The object diagram should have a meaningful name to indicate its purpose.
• The most important elements are to be identified.
• The association among objects should be clarified.
• Values of different elements need to be captured to include in the object diagram.
• Add proper notes at points where more clarity is required.
The following diagram is an example of an object diagram. It represents the Order
management system which we have discussed in the chapter Class Diagram. The following
diagram is an instance of the system at a particular time of purchase. It has the following
objects.
• Customer
• Order
• SpecialOrder
• NormalOrder

Now the customer object (C) is associated with three order objects (O1, O2, and O3). These
order objects are associated with special order and normal order objects (S1, S2, and N1).
The customer has the following three orders with different numbers (12, 32 and 40) for the
particular time considered.

The customer can increase the number of orders in future and in that scenario the object
diagram will reflect that. If order, special order, and normal order objects are observed
then you will find that they have some values.

For orders, the values are 12, 32, and 40 which implies that the objects have these values for
a particular moment (here the particular time when the purchase is made is considered as
the moment) when the instance is captured

The same is true for special order and normal order objects which have number of orders as
20, 30, and 60. If a different time of purchase is considered, then these values will change
accordingly.

The following object diagram has been drawn considering all the points mentioned above

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SWE233: OOM & UML Lecture Notes November 2023

Where to Use Object Diagrams?

Object diagrams can be imagined as the snapshot of a running system at a particular
moment. Let us consider an example of a running train
Now, if you take a snap of the running train then you will find a static picture of it having the
following −
• A particular state which is running.
• A particular number of passengers. which will change if the snap is taken in a
different time

Here, we can imagine the snap of the running train is an object having the above values.
And this is true for any real-life simple or complex system.

In a nutshell, it can be said that object diagrams are used for −

• Making the prototype of a system.
• Reverse engineering.
• Modeling complex data structures.
• Understanding the system from practical perspective.

UML - Component Diagrams

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