7 ms·

UML Diagrams Designer via Code

87 points by begoon 4y ago

rowls66 4y ago
Looks like a web UI for PlantUML. Does anyone see anything more than that? https://plantuml.com/ https://plantuml.com/
- remram 4y ago
  Or Mermaid, which is less capable but natively supported by GitLab and GitHub.
  - djur 4y ago
    I really wish Mermaid and PlantUML had compatible syntax, or at least more overlap for the basic structural stuff. On a day to day basis I'm writing either PlantUML in Confluence (via a plugin) or Mermaid in GitHub, and I almost always have to open up the reference or review an existing diagram to refresh myself on the different syntax.
    - thiht 4y ago
      FYI there’s also a Mermaid plugin for Confluence, we use it extensively. If you don’t mind losing some features from PlantUML for the sake of consistency.
- jupiter909 4y ago
  It's pretty much that. I like to use https://www.websequencediagrams.com/ https://www.websequencediagrams.com/ and/or plantuml plugins for vscode that can process locally or via api.
- sjburt 4y ago
  You can drag or modify the items in the diagram and it changes the UML, that's actually pretty neat. PlantUML normally only goes code to diagram.
- RandyRanderson 4y ago
  plant needs to have a UI to manipulate the drawings and round-trip the adjustments back into the spec. This is required for any non-trivial diagram.
raxxorraxor 4y ago
Very nice! I wish I had something like this when having to write papers for university. There are some nice tools but getting a consistent layout was always a problem. Are more diagram types planned?
prima-facie 4y ago
There's also Mermaid which is natively supported by Github: https://mermaid-js.github.io/mermaid/ https://mermaid-js.github.io/mermaid/
smusamashah 4y ago
No other text to diagram tool also allows moving/editing diagram itself with mouse. I have shared this list[1] of all similar tools on web a few times before. [1]: https://xosh.org/text-to-diagram/ https://xosh.org/text-to-diagram/
- yodon 4y ago
  You've clearly put a lot of work into assembling this list. I'm guessing the page would be significantly more valuable to readers and much more likely to be found by people interested in the the information in it if you added a brief sentence or two description of each of the projects.
  - smusamashah 4y ago
    More info I put there, more difficult it will be to keep it updated. There are tags/words below each to describe what that tool is for.
    - ncr100 4y ago
      Wikipedia? EDIT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unified_Modeling_Language_tools https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unified_Modeling_Langu... This list is not a good fit for your XOSH list. It does include PlantUML but does not include a feature-breakdown. Instead it's simply a declaration of existence.
- koch 4y ago
  Nice list! How can I get https://cascade.page https://cascade.page on there?
  - smusamashah 4y ago
    This is nice, added. At some point I will move the list to gist.github which will keep this page upto date.
- oldsecondhand 4y ago
0xbadcafebee 4y ago
This is fantastic! Code and UI in one! please make every technology be like this
scrapcode 4y ago
Are UML diagrams used effectively in the dev industry? I'm in more of an systems analyst / solutions consultant role and don't see them used much.
- capableweb 4y ago
  Following them like a holy-grail, no, not that useful. I usually use them to help juniors build a foundational skill about drawing graphs of architecture before implementing them, as the ground-work for discussing the proposed architecture. Also explaining to them that it doesn't have to be using the right fill/hollow arrow or whatever, more that the graphs themselves accurately describes the architecture. So in short: kinda.
- Vanit 4y ago
  Only time I've seen them is when one of my jobs was contracted to the local Telco here who wanted all kinds of design deliverables.
- rjsw 4y ago
  UML diagrams with UML behind them are used in aerospace. PlantUML just does diagrams, not full UML.
- inetknght 4y ago
  > Are UML diagrams used effectively in the dev industry? Are they effective? I say they are when correctly used. For example last year I used plant UML to draw a sequence diagram to demonstrate some threading/mutex problems. [1] I've also used draw.io to draw similar problems. [2] I would say that tbqh using UML (or maybe just plant UML) is the "better" solution because it can be embedded in code and re-rendered as needed. But draw.io is _much_ easier to use! I will also say that UML diagrams aren't well taught nor do most devs even know to reach for the tool. [1]: https://github.com/mavlink/qgroundcontrol/pull/9595 https://github.com/mavlink/qgroundcontrol/pull/9595 [2]: https://github.com/airmap/qgroundcontrol/pull/6 https://github.com/airmap/qgroundcontrol/pull/6
  - tomduncalf 4y ago
RandyRanderson 4y ago
Bullet points for requirements and one "box, swimlane, and cylinder" diagram (with no standard elements) for analysis and design if you're on a 'strict' project. If we can't even decide on language A or B, CSV or JSON, ... (these are implementation artifacts that are essential to the solution), what hope do we have of even understanding- no even seeing that there is a problem in the other disciplines (requirements, analysis, etc) of technology delivery? If we make it another 100 years, we'll look back at this time and view what we are coding now as wattle and daub huts whereas a century from now we'll be erecting the analogue of technological skyscrapers (but probably not good ones, if I'm being realistic).
- jnash 4y ago
  I predict that the future development landscape won't be much different from today. In the same way that the development landscape today isn't much different to how it was 60 years ago. The only difference will be faster hardware, allowing people to use even slower languages to do just enough to get typical web applications to work. Developers will still be 95% focused on their own convenience instead of focusing on the business/end user. Developers will still "solve" problems by adding another layer of complexity and copy/pasting code they don't understand from somebody else. Developers will still be coding in languages that are around today (because legacy).
tonerow 4y ago
Very simple but easy syntax with visual feedback: https://flowchart.fun/ https://flowchart.fun/
- ffhhj 4y ago
  Great work!

87 points by begoon 4y ago

rowls66 4y ago

Looks like a web UI for PlantUML. Does anyone see anything more than that? https://plantuml.com/ https://plantuml.com/

remram 4y ago
Or Mermaid, which is less capable but natively supported by GitLab and GitHub.
- djur 4y ago
  I really wish Mermaid and PlantUML had compatible syntax, or at least more overlap for the basic structural stuff. On a day to day basis I'm writing either PlantUML in Confluence (via a plugin) or Mermaid in GitHub, and I almost always have to open up the reference or review an existing diagram to refresh myself on the different syntax.
  - thiht 4y ago
    FYI there’s also a Mermaid plugin for Confluence, we use it extensively. If you don’t mind losing some features from PlantUML for the sake of consistency.
jupiter909 4y ago
It's pretty much that. I like to use https://www.websequencediagrams.com/ https://www.websequencediagrams.com/ and/or plantuml plugins for vscode that can process locally or via api.
sjburt 4y ago
You can drag or modify the items in the diagram and it changes the UML, that's actually pretty neat. PlantUML normally only goes code to diagram.
RandyRanderson 4y ago
plant needs to have a UI to manipulate the drawings and round-trip the adjustments back into the spec. This is required for any non-trivial diagram.

raxxorraxor 4y ago

Very nice! I wish I had something like this when having to write papers for university. There are some nice tools but getting a consistent layout was always a problem. Are more diagram types planned?

prima-facie 4y ago

There's also Mermaid which is natively supported by Github: https://mermaid-js.github.io/mermaid/ https://mermaid-js.github.io/mermaid/

smusamashah 4y ago

No other text to diagram tool also allows moving/editing diagram itself with mouse. I have shared this list[1] of all similar tools on web a few times before. [1]: https://xosh.org/text-to-diagram/ https://xosh.org/text-to-diagram/

yodon 4y ago
You've clearly put a lot of work into assembling this list. I'm guessing the page would be significantly more valuable to readers and much more likely to be found by people interested in the the information in it if you added a brief sentence or two description of each of the projects.
- smusamashah 4y ago
  More info I put there, more difficult it will be to keep it updated. There are tags/words below each to describe what that tool is for.
  - ncr100 4y ago
    Wikipedia? EDIT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unified_Modeling_Language_tools https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unified_Modeling_Langu... This list is not a good fit for your XOSH list. It does include PlantUML but does not include a feature-breakdown. Instead it's simply a declaration of existence.
koch 4y ago
Nice list! How can I get https://cascade.page https://cascade.page on there?
- smusamashah 4y ago
  This is nice, added. At some point I will move the list to gist.github which will keep this page upto date.
oldsecondhand 4y ago

0xbadcafebee 4y ago

This is fantastic! Code and UI in one! please make every technology be like this

scrapcode 4y ago

Are UML diagrams used effectively in the dev industry? I'm in more of an systems analyst / solutions consultant role and don't see them used much.

capableweb 4y ago
Following them like a holy-grail, no, not that useful. I usually use them to help juniors build a foundational skill about drawing graphs of architecture before implementing them, as the ground-work for discussing the proposed architecture. Also explaining to them that it doesn't have to be using the right fill/hollow arrow or whatever, more that the graphs themselves accurately describes the architecture. So in short: kinda.
Vanit 4y ago
Only time I've seen them is when one of my jobs was contracted to the local Telco here who wanted all kinds of design deliverables.
rjsw 4y ago
UML diagrams with UML behind them are used in aerospace. PlantUML just does diagrams, not full UML.
inetknght 4y ago
> Are UML diagrams used effectively in the dev industry? Are they effective? I say they are when correctly used. For example last year I used plant UML to draw a sequence diagram to demonstrate some threading/mutex problems. [1] I've also used draw.io to draw similar problems. [2] I would say that tbqh using UML (or maybe just plant UML) is the "better" solution because it can be embedded in code and re-rendered as needed. But draw.io is _much_ easier to use! I will also say that UML diagrams aren't well taught nor do most devs even know to reach for the tool. [1]: https://github.com/mavlink/qgroundcontrol/pull/9595 https://github.com/mavlink/qgroundcontrol/pull/9595 [2]: https://github.com/airmap/qgroundcontrol/pull/6 https://github.com/airmap/qgroundcontrol/pull/6
- tomduncalf 4y ago

RandyRanderson 4y ago

Bullet points for requirements and one "box, swimlane, and cylinder" diagram (with no standard elements) for analysis and design if you're on a 'strict' project. If we can't even decide on language A or B, CSV or JSON, ... (these are implementation artifacts that are essential to the solution), what hope do we have of even understanding- no even seeing that there is a problem in the other disciplines (requirements, analysis, etc) of technology delivery? If we make it another 100 years, we'll look back at this time and view what we are coding now as wattle and daub huts whereas a century from now we'll be erecting the analogue of technological skyscrapers (but probably not good ones, if I'm being realistic).

jnash 4y ago
I predict that the future development landscape won't be much different from today. In the same way that the development landscape today isn't much different to how it was 60 years ago. The only difference will be faster hardware, allowing people to use even slower languages to do just enough to get typical web applications to work. Developers will still be 95% focused on their own convenience instead of focusing on the business/end user. Developers will still "solve" problems by adding another layer of complexity and copy/pasting code they don't understand from somebody else. Developers will still be coding in languages that are around today (because legacy).

tonerow 4y ago

Very simple but easy syntax with visual feedback: https://flowchart.fun/ https://flowchart.fun/

ffhhj 4y ago
Great work!