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Prior art: 1. Plant UML: http://www.plantuml.com/plantuml/umla/SoWkIImgAStDuNBCoKnELT2rKt3AJx9IS2mjoKZDAybCJYp9pCzJ24ejB4qjBk42oYde0jM05MDHLLoGdrUSoeLkM5u-K5sH

by jonahx 6y ago

Prior art: 1. Plant UML: http://www.plantuml.com/plantuml/umla/SoWkIImgAStDuNBCoKnELT2rKt3AJx9IS2mjoKZDAybCJYp9pCzJ24ejB4qjBk42oYde0jM05MDHLLoGdrUSoeLkM5u-K5sHGY9MGw6ARNHryQb66EwGcfS2T300 http://www.plantuml.com/plantuml/umla/SoWkIImgAStDuNBCoKnELT... PlantUML supports many diagram types, and there's a nice VS Code plugin with side by side live preview. 2. https://www.websequencediagrams.com/ https://www.websequencediagrams.com/ Has a hand-drawn style option which is nice: https://i.imgur.com/lh4jaVL.png https://i.imgur.com/lh4jaVL.png

Veuxdo 6y ago
Ilograph supports interactive sequence diagrams e.g. https://app.ilograph.com/demo.ilograph.Ilograph/Get%2520Diagram https://app.ilograph.com/demo.ilograph.Ilograph/Get%2520Diag...
- intrasight 6y ago
  also see zenuml.com I was just looking at that a few days ago. But don't want something that works on-line. Any good equivalent local tools?
  - Veuxdo 6y ago
    There is a desktop version that works off-line: https://www.ilograph.com/desktop/index.html https://www.ilograph.com/desktop/index.html
  - avodonosov 6y ago
    FWIW, https://diagrams.net/ https://diagrams.net/ also have a downloadable version. But it's a point and click WYSIWYG editor, not a text notation like swimlanes.io.
avodonosov 6y ago
https://sequencediagram.org https://sequencediagram.org is another alternative
- wormik 6y ago
  Yeah - happy user of this one for years :)
eugene0 6y ago
MermaidJS is also a good alternative: https://mermaid-js.github.io/mermaid-live-editor/ https://mermaid-js.github.io/mermaid-live-editor/
- leipert 6y ago
  GitLab has mermaid support in its markdown https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/markdown.html#mermaid https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/markdown.html#mermaid
  - acidburnNSA 6y ago
    So does Wiki.js [1]. Pretty fancy. [1] https://docs.requarks.io/editors/markdown#mermaid-diagrams https://docs.requarks.io/editors/markdown#mermaid-diagrams
  - andix 6y ago
    Mermaid became quite a common markdown feature. It is supported in a lot of places already. It can easily be integrated as it is pure client side javascript.
carb 6y ago
As we're listing alternatives, Lucidchart also supports generated UML Sequence Diagrams, which lets you use their GUI after generation to customize it / alter as desired
swyx 6y ago
collated these diagramming tools here: https://github.com/sw-yx/spark-joy/blob/master/README.md#general-purpose-diagramming https://github.com/sw-yx/spark-joy/blob/master/README.md#gen...
- scoot 6y ago
  Any plans to do curated?
  - swyx 6y ago
    i mean i will inject my opinions when i have to use these things in anger, right now it is just a raw list for future usage. i do put little stars or warnings against some items when i have an opinion. you're welcome to PR in some commentary on each of them though. or fork it and curate. its open source knowledge :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoATf7xGoUY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoATf7xGoUY
- gnat 6y ago
  Thanks. Please do identify when they're open source -- I have been bitten by filling a small app of unknown longevity with my system diagrams and flowcharts, only to have it disappear.
  - swyx 6y ago
    ouch. at this point itd take a long time for me to backfill that info but will try going fwd
- mercurywells 6y ago
  Here's one I didn't see on your list: https://wavedrom.com/ https://wavedrom.com/
gregmac 6y ago
Plantuml plugin within Confluence is pretty nice for documentation, and arguably a super-power because it makes it easier to make good docs ("a picture is worth a thousand words"). The source shows up in edit mode (no external app needed; and it's always correct) and it handles the rendering for you, thus reducing friction. In other places I've seen people attach a PNG. If you're lucky, they've also attached the corresponding (and up-to-date) source in visio/draw/ppt/whatever random app format, in which case making a small edit might only takes ten of minutes. In the worst case, it's missing source, the source file is not the same as the PNG, or they used some program you don't have, and you have to totally redo it. For most people if the friction is too high, it just doesn't get updated.
- andreareina 6y ago
  Big fan of PlantUML, didn't occur to me that there'd be Confluence plugins. Which one are you using?
  - gregmac 6y ago
    I didn't realize there were multiple now! We use "PlantUML for Confluence" [1] now but have had that for a few years. The live preview thing some of the others seem to have would be nice. [1] https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/41025/plantuml-for-confluence https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/41025/plantuml-for-co...
- mjallday 6y ago
  Logged in specifically to agree and upvote this comment! - on-demand preview of changes before i hit save - source code is always embedded with the diagram and anyone can reference and edit - source controlled history via confluence history I've used mermaid extensively but ultimately abandoned it because it didn't have a good flow for sharing the source and history. Confluence + PlantUML is a great solution.
jiveturkey 6y ago
i prefer sequencediagram.org no upsell and pretty full featured. developer is responsive (i’ve had a couple minor things addressed). most importantly you can export to svg. then i load into inkscape if i need a tweak for publication
pugworthy 6y ago
Plantuml won't even run with uBlock on. Well it will run, but no diagram. Not that interested in trying to divine just which little thing it wants on to work given there are so many alternatives.
- sverhagen 6y ago
  Okay. That's a bummer. But also: PlantUML is a lot more, or a lot different than another online diagramming tool. Their strength is expressing the diagrams using plain text. Having used my share of tools, l have never not hated drawing sequence diagrams, but in plain text it is a dream. They have command line tools, IDE integrations, etc.
flower-giraffe 6y ago
Plantuml can also style as hand drawn with a skinparam https://plantuml.com/handwritten https://plantuml.com/handwritten
elric 6y ago
Let's not forget the venerable UMLet (https://www.umlet.com https://www.umlet.com). It's simple, cross platform, and supports a variety of UML diagrams using a text-based syntax.

by jonahx 6y ago

Veuxdo 6y ago

Ilograph supports interactive sequence diagrams e.g. https://app.ilograph.com/demo.ilograph.Ilograph/Get%2520Diagram https://app.ilograph.com/demo.ilograph.Ilograph/Get%2520Diag...

intrasight 6y ago
also see zenuml.com I was just looking at that a few days ago. But don't want something that works on-line. Any good equivalent local tools?
- Veuxdo 6y ago
  There is a desktop version that works off-line: https://www.ilograph.com/desktop/index.html https://www.ilograph.com/desktop/index.html
- avodonosov 6y ago
  FWIW, https://diagrams.net/ https://diagrams.net/ also have a downloadable version. But it's a point and click WYSIWYG editor, not a text notation like swimlanes.io.

avodonosov 6y ago

https://sequencediagram.org https://sequencediagram.org is another alternative

wormik 6y ago
Yeah - happy user of this one for years :)

eugene0 6y ago

MermaidJS is also a good alternative: https://mermaid-js.github.io/mermaid-live-editor/ https://mermaid-js.github.io/mermaid-live-editor/

leipert 6y ago
GitLab has mermaid support in its markdown https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/markdown.html#mermaid https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/markdown.html#mermaid
- acidburnNSA 6y ago
  So does Wiki.js [1]. Pretty fancy. [1] https://docs.requarks.io/editors/markdown#mermaid-diagrams https://docs.requarks.io/editors/markdown#mermaid-diagrams
- andix 6y ago
  Mermaid became quite a common markdown feature. It is supported in a lot of places already. It can easily be integrated as it is pure client side javascript.

carb 6y ago

As we're listing alternatives, Lucidchart also supports generated UML Sequence Diagrams, which lets you use their GUI after generation to customize it / alter as desired

swyx 6y ago

collated these diagramming tools here: https://github.com/sw-yx/spark-joy/blob/master/README.md#general-purpose-diagramming https://github.com/sw-yx/spark-joy/blob/master/README.md#gen...

scoot 6y ago
Any plans to do curated?
- swyx 6y ago
  i mean i will inject my opinions when i have to use these things in anger, right now it is just a raw list for future usage. i do put little stars or warnings against some items when i have an opinion. you're welcome to PR in some commentary on each of them though. or fork it and curate. its open source knowledge :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoATf7xGoUY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoATf7xGoUY
gnat 6y ago
Thanks. Please do identify when they're open source -- I have been bitten by filling a small app of unknown longevity with my system diagrams and flowcharts, only to have it disappear.
- swyx 6y ago
  ouch. at this point itd take a long time for me to backfill that info but will try going fwd
mercurywells 6y ago
Here's one I didn't see on your list: https://wavedrom.com/ https://wavedrom.com/

gregmac 6y ago

Plantuml plugin within Confluence is pretty nice for documentation, and arguably a super-power because it makes it easier to make good docs ("a picture is worth a thousand words"). The source shows up in edit mode (no external app needed; and it's always correct) and it handles the rendering for you, thus reducing friction. In other places I've seen people attach a PNG. If you're lucky, they've also attached the corresponding (and up-to-date) source in visio/draw/ppt/whatever random app format, in which case making a small edit might only takes ten of minutes. In the worst case, it's missing source, the source file is not the same as the PNG, or they used some program you don't have, and you have to totally redo it. For most people if the friction is too high, it just doesn't get updated.

andreareina 6y ago
Big fan of PlantUML, didn't occur to me that there'd be Confluence plugins. Which one are you using?
- gregmac 6y ago
  I didn't realize there were multiple now! We use "PlantUML for Confluence" [1] now but have had that for a few years. The live preview thing some of the others seem to have would be nice. [1] https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/41025/plantuml-for-confluence https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/41025/plantuml-for-co...
mjallday 6y ago
Logged in specifically to agree and upvote this comment! - on-demand preview of changes before i hit save - source code is always embedded with the diagram and anyone can reference and edit - source controlled history via confluence history I've used mermaid extensively but ultimately abandoned it because it didn't have a good flow for sharing the source and history. Confluence + PlantUML is a great solution.

jiveturkey 6y ago

i prefer sequencediagram.org no upsell and pretty full featured. developer is responsive (i’ve had a couple minor things addressed). most importantly you can export to svg. then i load into inkscape if i need a tweak for publication

pugworthy 6y ago

Plantuml won't even run with uBlock on. Well it will run, but no diagram. Not that interested in trying to divine just which little thing it wants on to work given there are so many alternatives.

sverhagen 6y ago
Okay. That's a bummer. But also: PlantUML is a lot more, or a lot different than another online diagramming tool. Their strength is expressing the diagrams using plain text. Having used my share of tools, l have never not hated drawing sequence diagrams, but in plain text it is a dream. They have command line tools, IDE integrations, etc.

flower-giraffe 6y ago

Plantuml can also style as hand drawn with a skinparam https://plantuml.com/handwritten https://plantuml.com/handwritten

elric 6y ago

Let's not forget the venerable UMLet (https://www.umlet.com https://www.umlet.com). It's simple, cross platform, and supports a variety of UML diagrams using a text-based syntax.