For me it's the exact opposite: Text - Detailed, well thought out diagrams. Visual - Simple, Quick & Dirty diagrams. The reason is mostly that diagrams from

For me it's the exact opposite: Text - Detailed, well thought out diagrams. Visual - Simple, Quick & Dirty diagrams. The reason is mostly that diagrams from visual editors are basically unmaintainable and therefore are only good for throw-away stuff. Also simple diagrams, especially when you are not entirely sure what you want, are quicker done in a visual editor. If I need to document a complex system and especially when the documentation has to evolve with the system it is generated diagrams from version controlled text files for me hands down.