So who here has heard of UML

[Paoletti301]

i've been going through a c++ book ( for dummies, i wouldnt really recommend it ) and it decided to devote a good 50 pages to UML, the unified modeling language or something like that. what it essentially is, is a more structured type of flow chart that can be applied to software design and engineering.

im wondering who here has ever heard of it or use it.

honestly im thinking about just skipping that chapter and going back after i finish the rest

[firedraco]

Heard of it, but at least in my classes, I heard it wasn't used anywhere near as often as it was before.

[Catfish4]

From what I know, it's used to help with the design part that goes into an object-oriented style approach. Which is kind of funny.
http://www.geocities.com/tablizer/oopbad.htm

[1yR4jE8b]

I learned it in school, but have never used it during my professional career. From my personal experience (mostly in Agile or XP workplaces), any attempt at making complex diagrams for designing classes and architecture are just a waste of time. The only time I've found it usefull is when the IDE can generate the designs for you, like Visual Studio, so I can visualize my designs as I code them but not waste time making diagrams that won't be used at all later.

[Cubbi]

I use it regularly, although not every day. Since everyone understands it, more or less, it's very helpful in communicating design ideas, be it a timing diagram, drawn, erased, and redrawn a dozen times, on the white board during a meeting, or a carefully prepared class diagram for a preliminary design pitch, or a thousand-page book of the detailed design (some customers wouldn't accept code without it).