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Method and the Object Modeling Technique (OMT). Jacobson then joined the two,
and followed their lead when he merged the Object-Oriented Software Engi-
neering method (OOSE) into their hybrid creation. These efforts resulted in the
initial release of the UML. The upkeep of UML was eventually handed over to the
Object Management Group (OMG), a software engineering consortium that is still
responsible today for setting the standards of the language. OMG's UML speci-
fication provides a standard definition for the modeling system: ''The Unified
Modeling Language visual language for specifying, constructing, and document-
ing the artifacts of systems. It is a general-purpose modeling language that can be
used with all major object and component methods, and that can be applied to all
application domains … and implementation platforms'' (OMG
2007
).
3.1.1 What is Modeling?
Modeling is a critical part of any engineering process. In the field of construction,
a model might be a blueprint for a building. Among electrical engineers, a model
could be the schematics used to describe an electrical circuit and the components
involved. In software engineering, modeling serves the same purpose of allowing
those involved in a software engineering project to maintain a common under-
standing of the product being developed. Models allow all members of a software
development team to accurately assess all aspects of a software project, and thus to
ensure that a client's requirements are being met. In previous chapters, we have
discussed the tremendous costs associated with modifying software late in the
development process. Proper modeling practices ensure that the entire project can
be accurately visualized at every step of the process to ensure success. For these
reasons, modeling is a practice that lies at the heart of analysis and design. It
allows us to describe the structure and behavior both of real world phenomena and
of the abstractions to be built in a software product. A model can be broken down
into three parts. The first of these, the static part, describes an objects state at any
given moment. The second part, the dynamic part, represents the state changes that
will happen as events occur. The final part, the interactive part, is used to denote
the way in which objects interact with one another (D'Sourza and Wills
1999
).
3.1.2 What is the Unified Modeling Language?
Booch describes the Unified Modeling Language as ''a standard language for
specifying, visualizing, constructing, and documenting the artifacts of software-
intensive systems, as well as for business modeling and other non-software sys-
tems'' (Booch et al.
1999
). UML is a basically a collection of successful software
engineering practices that have been compiled into a full-fledged modeling
specification. Through the use of this modeling system, object-oriented software
