What's the best UML diagramming tool? [closed]

Question

I'm trying to choose a tool for creating UML diagrams of all flavours. Usability is a major criteria for me, but I'd still take more power with a steeper learning curve and be happy. Free (as in beer) would be nice, but I'd be willing to pay if the tool's worth it. What should I be using?

Answer 1

Visual Paradigm for UML http://content.usa.visual-paradigm.com/websiteimages/images/products/vpuml60/vpumltitle.gif

I'm very fond of Visual Paradigm for UML It's very powerful and has a free Community Edition and cheap Personal Edition as well.

Agilian http://content.usa.visual-paradigm.com/websiteimages/images/products/ag10/agtitle.gif

For Agile modeling there's also Agilian which is a bit more flexible, adds extra features to support smartboards and knows mind-mapping as well.

The thing I like most about their products is the flexibility. I'm using Enterprise Architect at work nowadays but I think it's not smart enough. I want to be able to quick-brainstorm some sequence diagrams and have the application keep my model up-to-date in the background, something VPUML does a very good job at.

In my opinion it's way better than Enterprise Architect, though that is a great tool as well :)

Answer 2

Take a look at BOUML: multiplatform (QT), works pretty well and supports colaborative work.

BOUML is a free UML 2 tool box (under development) allowing you to specify and generate code in C++, Java, Idl, Php and Python.

BOUML runs under Unix/Linux/Solaris, MacOS X(Power PC and Intel) and Windows.

From Wikipedia:

The releases prior to version 4.23 are free software licensed under GPL. BOUML 5 and later is proprietary software.

Answer 3

You should try Creately. Runs in your browser and can do team collaboration.

supports sequence diagrams, class, ER, usecase etc. works great and has a free version available.

Creately.com

Answer 4

Rational and Together/J are best-of-breed products, but expensive.

In my experience, I've enjoyed Eclipse Omondo and Sparx Enterprise Architect. Omondo integrates nicely with Eclipse for code generation, and has a very intuitive feel. However, it is strongly tied to Java. Sparx is a good tool for the price point, but lacks the full range of UML 2.0 diagrams.

Do NOT bother with Poseidon. It is buggy, bloated, and unusuable for all intents and purposes.

Answer 5

You might want to take a look at MagicDraw or Visual Paradigm for UML. Both offer community editions that, of course, don't span the full feature range, but may well be sufficient if you want to create diagrams only and not generate code or do full round-trip engineering.

Answer 6

Some context: Recently for graduate school I researched UML tools for usability and UML comprehension in general for an independent project. I also model/architect for a living.

The previous posts have too many answers and not enough questions. A common misunderstanding is that UML is about creating diagrams. Sure, diagrams are important, but really you are creating a model. Here are the questions that should be answered as each vendor product/solution does some things better than others. Note: The listed answers are my view as the best even if other products support a given feature or need.

• Are you modeling or drawing? (Drawing - ArgoUML, free implementations, and Visio)
  
• Will you be modeling in the future? (For basic modeling - Community editions of pay products)
  
• Do you want to formalize your modeling through profiles or meta-models? OCL? (Sparx, RSM, Visual Paradigm)
  
• Are you concerned about model portability, XMI support? (GenMyModel, Sparx, Visual Paradigm, Altova)
  
• Do you have an existing set of documents that you need to work with? (Depends on the documents)
  
• Would you want to generate code stubs or full functioning code?(GenMyModel, Visual Paradigm, Sparx, Altova)
  
• Do you need more mature processes such as use case management, pattern creation, asset creation, RUP integration, etc? (RSA/RSM/IBM Rational Products)
  

Detailed Examples: IBM Rational Software Architect did not implement UML 2.0 all the way when it comes to realizes type relationships when creating a UML profile, but Visual Paradigm and Sparx got it right.
Ok, that was way too detailed, so a simpler example would be ArgoUML, which has no code generation features and focuses on drawing more than the modeling aspect of UML.
Sparx and Visual Paradigm do UML really well and generate code well, however, hooking into project lifecycles and other process is where RSM/RSA is strong.
Watch out for closed or product specific code generation processes or frameworks as you could end up stuck with that product.

This is a straight brain dump so a couple details may not be perfect, however, this should provide a general map to the questions and solutions to looking into.

NEW - Found a good list of many UML tools with descriptions. Wiki UML Tool List