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| <mainDescription><h4>
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| Model key perspectives
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| </h4>
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| <p>
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| Modeling helps raise the level of abstraction because you simplify complex ideas and represent them visually, as
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| illustrations. Good models can convey information that helps the team visualize, specify, construct, and document
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| software. The Unified Modeling Language (UML) provides an industry-standard approach to software modeling.
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| </p>
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| <p>
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| When applying this strategy, you can use various techniques:
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| </p>
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| <ul>
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| <li>
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| <strong>Identify the key perspectives:</strong> Focus on modeling the things that count. Few (if any) projects
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| benefit from modeling the entire design to a great level of detail. Make sure that you understand why you are
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| modeling something and who will benefit.
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| </li>
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| <li>
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| <strong>Communicate key architectural perspectives:</strong> Even if you choose to model very little&nbsp;of your
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| design, it is often advantageous to produce diagrams that communicate the key architectural aspects of the system.
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| Conveying the "big picture" to the rest of the team helps them understand the overall approach and develop cohesive
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| software.&nbsp;
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| </li>
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| <li>
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| <strong>Sketch the design:</strong> Not all models need to be detailed completely and presented in a software
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| modeling tool. It is often perfectly acceptable (if not desirable) to produce hand-drawn sketches on paper or on a
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| whiteboard when you are exploring and communicating the architecture and design with your team. You can use a
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| digital camera or an electronic whiteboard to capture these diagrams and share them. For many small projects, this
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| is often all you need. See <a href="http://www.agilemodeling.com/">http://www.agilemodeling.com/</a> for more
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| information.
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| </li>
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| <li>
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| <strong>Use a modeling tool as needed</strong>:&nbsp;If the team members are changing models throughout the
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| project, sharing patterns/structure, debugging design, describing behavior, etc., then static photos or paper will
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| become difficult to work with. The team may want to capture design in a software modeling tool. Other than
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| communicating the design to the team, another benefit of a such a tool is the&nbsp;generation of structural code
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| from the models. Many software development tools allow you to view the code as models, making it easier to
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| comprehend static and dynamic aspects of a complex code base.
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| </li>
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| <li>
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| <strong>Agree on a standard notation:</strong> In a team environment, it is important that others can understand
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| your diagrams without much explanation. Choosing a standard notation enables others to quickly comprehend your
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| diagrams without ambiguity. The Unified Modeling Language is an example of a widely understood notation.
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| </li>
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| </ul></mainDescription> |
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