Quick, Easy, Free UML Diagrams of Java Classes

I sure do love it here in the Java open-source community!

I read in Martin Fowler's blog that there's a cool open-source tool, called UMLGraph, he's been playing with for rendering UML class diagrams. If Fowler says it's worth checking out, then that's good enough for me. What the heck? I'll give it an hour.

So, I installed the tool itself (a JavaDoc Doclet -- just one jar), and I installed the free executable from AT&T Labs that actually does the rendering. I added a JavaDoc command to my Ant build script, and I added a call to the AT&T tool. Walla! Pretty UML diagrams to go with my program! It couldn’t be any simpler.

Not that I'll ever wait until the end of a project and generate reams of UML documentation to sit on a shelf -- what this will allow me to do is start to write new Java code, without any meat on the bones yet, and immediately get diagrams as I go to show off at design reviews and whatnot. Don’t like the way the design looks? I'll just take advantage of the Eclipse refactoring tools, and then re-render the diagrams. Is that slick, or what? No need to pay for a Rational Rose license, nor go though contortions to install it. No need to learn how to use the Rose UI. And, best yet, no need to "transcribble" (transcribe with possible errors) the design into code -- it's already code.

Note that I've only played with UMLGraph's class diagrams thus far. There's also a way to draw sequence diagrams, but it doesn’t work off of the Java source. You have to use something called the PIC language, so that's not as slick, but I'm not complaining. Being able to render class diagrams quickly and easily (and cheaply) is a tremendous boon. I couldn't wait to spread the word.

Oh, and back to why I love the Java open-source community: Fowler's blog entry wasn't even a day old when the UMLGraph people changed the front page of their site to reference the suggestions for improvement that Fowler made. I wouldn't be surprised if the team has acted on them already.

Opting Out

Here is a concise web page that tells you how to cut down on junk mail (snail mail), starting with those pesky pre-approved credit card appilcations that you otherwise have to shred.

The Decline and Fall of Our Civil Rights

First the fun part:

I saw this on techno.blog("Dion"): "Teacher Arrested at Airport - At New York Kennedy airport today, an individual later discovered to be a public school teacher, was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a setsquare, a slide rule and a calculator. Attorney general John Ashcroft believes the man is a member of the notorious al-gebra movement. He is being charged with carrying weapons of math instruction.
'Al-gebra is a very fearsome cult, indeed', Ashcroft said. 'They desire average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on a tangent in a search of absolute value. They consist of quite shadowy figures, with names like 'x' and 'y', and, although they are frequently referred to as 'unknowns', we know they really belong to a common denominator and are part of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.' As the great Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, ! 'There are 3 sides to every triangle.' When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, 'If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes."

Here's the serious part:

On last night's Tavis Smiley Show, civil rights attorney Connie Rice expressed dismay at how she seems to be the only one of her peers who is concerned about the extreme errosion of privacy that Patriot Act II will introduce. I was driving while listening and couldn't take notes, so I can't go into particulars, but I was appauled as she read off the things that Ashcroft will be able to do without a by-your-leave from anyone. It's scary stuff!

In searching via Google, I see she's really not totally alone in this. The Bill of Rights Defense Committee in MA is a prominent site with lots of resources and calls to action.

Friedman on Outsourcing

I caught a 1-hour program on the Discovery Channel the other day about outsourcing to India that was pretty good. It was by Thomas L. Friedman a columnist for the New York Times. The program, called "The Other Side of Outsourcing" showed Friedman's visit to Bangalore, India where he interviewed Indians on the pros and cons of globalization. It looks like you can still catch a rerun on the Discovery Times channel this week if you have digital cable.

It starts off by listing all of the things that are currently being outsourced from call centers (commonly divided into inbound, i.e. service calls, and outbound, i.e. sales calls), to proofreading novels, to Indian medical doctors analyzing x-rays. They say its only the tip of the iceberg. I'm waiting for someone to start outsourcing the proofreading of American résumés.