I see UML as the worst of both worlds in a slightly different opposition: ad-hoc diagrams, which aren't necessarily informal (they can be formal enough with lim

I see UML as the worst of both worlds in a slightly different opposition: ad-hoc diagrams, which aren't necessarily informal (they can be formal enough with limited, improvised concepts) versus standard diagrams, which offer no guarantee of being formal rather than vague. The vocabulary of UML offers a useful common ground (for example, distinguishing metamodels and class diagrams from object diagrams), but fancy UML features beyond the most basic diagrams would be not only time-consuming but off topic on a whiteboard, and too cumbersome and fundamentally informal for their intended uses of detailed design and model-driven code generation, with standardization providing strictly negative value.