Hints and Tips
When you model classifiers in the UML, remember that there is a wide range of building blocks at your disposal, from interfaces to classes to components, and so on. You must choose the one that best fits your abstraction. A well-structured classifier
- Has both structural and behavioral aspects.
- Is tightly cohesive and loosely coupled.
- Exposes only those features necessary for clients to use the class and hides all others.
- Is unambiguous in its intent and semantics.
- Is not so overly specified that it eliminates all degrees of freedom for its implementers.
- Is not so underspecified that it renders the meaning of the classifier as ambiguous.
When you draw a classifier in the UML,
- Show only those properties of the classifier that are important to understand the abstraction in its context.
- Chose a stereotyped version that provides the best visual cue to the intent of the classifier.