The Complete Guide to UML Diagram

Types with Examples

UML stands for Unified Modeling Language which is used in object oriented
software engineering. Although typically used in software engineering it is a
rich language that can be used to model an application
structures, behavior and even business processes. There are 14 UML
diagram types to help you model these behavior.

They can be divided into two main categories; structure diagrams and
behavioral diagrams. All 14 UML diagram types are listed below with
examples and a brief introduction to them explaining how they are used when
modeling applications.

List of UML Diagram Types

Types of UML diagrams with structure diagrams coming first and behavioral
diagrams starting from position 8. Click on any diagram type to visit that
specific diagram types description.

1. Class Diagram
2. Component Diagram
3. Deployment Diagram
4. Object Diagram
5. Package Diagram
6. Profile Diagram
7. Composite Structure Diagram
8. Use Case Diagram
9. Activity Diagram
10. State Machine Diagram
11. Sequence Diagram
12. Communication Diagram
13. Interaction Overview Diagram
14. Timing Diagram
 UML Diagram types

Structure diagrams show the things in a system being modeled. In a more

technical term, they show different objects in a system. Behavioral
diagrams shows what should happen in a system. They describe how the
objects interact with each other to create a functioning system.

Class Diagram
Class diagrams are arguably the most used UML diagram type. It is the main
building block of any object oriented solution. It shows the classes in a
system, attributes and operations of each class and the relationship between
each class.
In most modeling tools, a class has three parts, name at the top, attributes in
the middle and operations or methods at the bottom. In large systems with
many related classes, classes are grouped together to create class diagrams.
Different relationships between classes are shown by different types of
arrows.
Below is an image of a class diagram. Follow the link below for more class
diagram examples or get started instantly with our class diagram templates.

UML Class Diagram with Relationships (Click on image to modify online)

Get More Class Diagram Templates >>

Component Diagram
A component diagram displays the structural relationship of components of a
software system. These are mostly used when working with complex systems
that have many components. Components communicate with each other
using interfaces. The interfaces are linked using connectors. The images
below shows a component diagram.
 Simple Component Diagram with Interfaces

Get More Component Diagram Templates >>

Deployment Diagram
A deployment diagram shows the hardware of your system and the software
in those hardware. Deployment diagrams are useful when your software
solution is deployed across multiple machines with each having a unique
configuration. Below is an example deployment diagram.
 UML Deployment Diagram ( Click on the image to use it as a template )

Get More Deployment Diagram Templates >>

Object Diagram
Object Diagrams, sometimes referred to as Instance diagrams are very similar
to class diagrams. Like class diagrams, they also show the relationship
between objects but they use real world examples. They are used to show
how a system will look like at a given time. Because there is data available in
the objects, they are often used to explain complex relationships between
objects.
 UML Object Diagram Example (Click on image to use as a template)

Get More Object Diagram Templates >>

Package Diagram
As the name suggests, a package diagram shows the dependencies between
different packages in a system. Check out this wiki article to learn more
about the dependencies and elements found in package diagrams.
 Package Diagram in UML

Profile Diagram
Profile diagram is a new diagram type introduced in UML 2. This is a diagram
type that is very rarely used in any specification. For more detailed technical
information about this diagram type check this link.
 Basic UML Profile Diagram structure

Composite Structure Diagram

Composite structure diagrams are used to show the internal structure of a
class. For a detailed explanation of composite structure diagrams click
here.
 A simple Composite Structure Diagram

Use Case Diagram

As the most known diagram type of the behavioral UML diagrams, Use case
diagrams give a graphic overview of the actors involved in a system, different
functions needed by those actors and how these different functions are
interacted.

Its a great starting point for any project discussion, because you can easily
identify the main actors involved and the main processes of the system. Click
through to read more about use case diagram elements and/or get started
instantly using our use case templates.
 Use Case diagram showing Actors and main processes (click on image to use as template)

Get More Use Case Diagram Templates >>

Activity Diagram
Activity diagrams represent workflows in a graphical way. They can be used to
describe business workflow or the operational workflow of any component in a
system. Sometimes activity diagrams are used as an alternative to State
machine diagrams. Check out this wiki article to learn about symbols and
usage of activity diagrams.
 Activity Diagrams with start, end, processes and decision points (click on image to use as a template)

Get More Activity Diagram Templates >>

State Machine Diagram

State machine diagrams are similar to activity diagrams, although notations
and usage change a bit. They are sometime known as state diagrams or state
chart diagrams as well. These are very useful to describe the behavior of
objects that act differently according to the state they are in at the moment.
The State machine diagram below shows the basic states and actions.
 State Machine diagram in UML, sometime referred to as State or State chart diagram

Get More State Chart Diagrams >>

Sequence Diagram
Sequence diagrams in UML show how objects interact with each other and
the order those interactions occur. Its important to note that they show the
interactions for a particular scenario. The processes are represented vertically
and interactions are show as arrows. This article explains the purpose and
the basics of Sequence diagrams. Also check out this complete Sequence
Diagram Tutorial to learn more about sequence diagrams.

You can also instantly start drawing using our sequence diagram templates.
 Sequence Diagrams in UML shows the interaction between two processes (click on image to modify
online)

Communication Diagram
Communication diagram was called collaboration diagram in UML 1. It is
similar to sequence diagrams, but the focus is on messages passed between
objects. The same information can be represented using a sequence diagram
and different objects. Click here to understand the differences using an
example.
 Communication Diagram in UML

Interaction Overview Diagram

Interaction overview diagrams are very similar to activity diagrams. While
activity diagrams show a sequence of processes, Interaction overview
diagrams show a sequence of interaction diagrams. In simple terms, they can
be called a collection of interaction diagrams and the order they happen. As
mentioned before, there are seven types of interaction diagrams, so any one
of them can be a node in an interaction overview diagram. ( img
http://www.sa-depot.com/?page_id=645 )
 Interaction overview diagram in UML

Timing Diagram
Timing diagrams are very similar to sequence diagrams. They represent the
behavior of objects in a given time frame. If its only one object, the diagram is
straight forward, but if there are more than one object involved, they can be
used to show interactions of objects during that time frame as well. ( img
http://blog.tangcs.com/2008/01/10/uml-2-diagrams/ )
 Timing Diagram in UML

Mentioned above are all the UML diagram types. The links given in each
section explain the diagrams in more detail and cover the usage, symbols etc.
UML offers many diagram types, and sometimes two diagrams can explain
the same thing using different notations.