In this chapter
Class diagrams are the most common diagram found in modeling object-oriented systems. A class diagram shows a set of classes, interfaces, and collaborations and their relationships.
You use class diagrams to model the static design view of a system. For the most part, this involves modeling the vocabulary of the system, modeling collaborations, or modeling schemas. Class diagrams are also the foundation for a couple of related diagrams: component diagrams and deployment diagrams.
Class diagrams are important not only for visualizing, specifying, and documenting structural models, but also for constructing executable systems through forward and reverse engineering.