> Before UML, there were many methodologies. UML really wasn't a methodology. It was a "visual modeling language" telling you how you should draw a picture of

> Before UML, there were many methodologies. UML really wasn't a methodology. It was a "visual modeling language" telling you how you should draw a picture of a code construct. It didn't give much (if any?) advise on which development tasks you should do in which order. It was just a TOOL that could be used as part of your SW development activities. I'm not sure how people used it. Did they first draw the picture and then code, or vice versa? Or maybe drawing the pictures was optional? A "Software Development Method" should answer such questions, among others. A note about words: "Methodology" means something like "study of methods". A more proper word for individual documented or prescribed approaches to how to develop software would be simply "method". A "method" tells you how to do something.