Yes. If they're used as an analysis/design tool and not as a documentation-after-the-code-is-written tool, with tools that generate code from the diagrams, the

Yes. If they're used as an analysis/design tool and not as a documentation-after-the-code-is-written tool, with tools that generate code from the diagrams, they are really powerful. I work in Embedded Software and mainly use: Use Case Diagrams, Statecharts, Sequence Diagrams, Component Diagrams, Class Diagrams. The 80/20 rule is true, and I think about 80% of the value comes from 20% of the entirety of UML.