UML Design Package Options
I have been at software design for quite a while now and UML has been my constant companion for a good part of this time. Whenever I think of UML I think how great it is for helping with software design, but also how more or less uinversely rubbish most of the UML design applications are.
I have used tonnes of them, the big and expensive ones, the small funky ones and the in between ones and they all have their problems. I especially hate the ones that require at least 100 mouse clicks and popup options screens to get anything done, they are a real RSI minefield! Sometimes I think you would be better off with a pen and paper…
Every so often I go and on the hunt for new or improved offerings, testing them on real projects. This all takes time and I haven’t gone on such a hunt for 2 years now – So could anybody please recommend what they think is the best UML package out there at the moment and hopefully save me some time?
Here are some of the things I would like from a design app:
- Efficient user interface, the less clunky context menus and mouse clicks the better!
- Not tied to any particular programming language
- Affordable (open source would be great!)
- Standards Compliant (no renaming or reinventing of bits of the UML)
- Easy to copy diagrams out into other documents
- Good support for the different diagram types
Oh also, are there any decent cloud offerings?
Cheers – looking forward to hear your suggestions!