There's a really nice "UML the good parts" within UML that is useful. Sequence diagrams, state diagrams, and class diagrams can instantly clarify a design. But

There's a really nice "UML the good parts" within UML that is useful. Sequence diagrams, state diagrams, and class diagrams can instantly clarify a design. But go ahead and ignore the hollow vs solid arrows, dotted lines vs solid lines, etc. Those tend to be obvious from context. The main reason I don't use UML more is that there really is no good UML diagramming software. It is either way too complex (tries to implement the whole UML "standard"), or else it is a general purpose drawing tool (you need to painstakingly connect arrows to boxes, etc) UML was built for conference room whiteboards, and as a remote worker I haven't had a whiteboard in years.