In this book, you will
Learn what the UML is, what it is not, and why the UML is relevant to the process of developing software-intensive systems.
Master the vocabulary, rules, and idioms of the UML and, in general, learn how to "speak" the language effectively.
Understand how to apply the UML to solve a number of common modeling problems.
The user guide provides a reference to the use of specific UML features. However, it is not intended to be a comprehensive reference manual for the UML; that is the focus of another book,
The Unified Modeling Language Reference Manual
, Second Edition (Rumbaugh, Jacobson, Booch, Addison-Wesley, 2005).
The user guide describes a development process for use with the UML. However, it is not intended to provide a complete reference to that process; that is the focus of yet another book,
The Unified Software Development Process (Jacobson, Booch, Rumbaugh, Addison-Wesley, 1999).
Finally, this book provides hints and tips for using the UML to solve a number of common modeling problems, but it does not teach you how to model. This is similar to a user guide for a programming language that teaches you how to use the language but does not teach you how to program.