Using UML with PHP and Perl

The Unified Modeling Language has a number of features that could be beneficial to both Perl and PHP users. If you have a meeting with managers, and you need to explain the procedure for online credit card payments, your audience could become bored. While explaining it to them is one thing, showing it to them is another. This is where UML can be very useful for developers who use Perl.

Instead of simply telling someone how a system works, you can show it to them visually. One UML feature that can allow you to do this efficiently is the sequence diagram. The sequence diagram will show how time flow functions among modules.

If you’re dealing with a system that is complex, a diagram can save you a great deal of time. Instead of having to spend time on the initial design and how on things function. The sequence diagrams are powerful because they can deal with advanced call stacks, and this is similar to the manner in which a data model blueprint can deal with advanced database schemas. If you don’t enjoy working with drawing tools that are on screen, you can write a special UML sequence which will write the diagrams for you. The UML::Sequence can allow you to generate diagrams that have not been built. You can also run it with programs already in existence to display a diagram of what these programs do.

The next thing that will allow you to use UML with Perl is the ability to read sequence diagrams. One thing that you must realize is that UML will deal with a lot of objects that are object oriented. When you work with UML, every package will have a box at the diagram’s top. The script will be the main package, and this is the default that is used by Perl. Time will always flow from the top portion to the bottom. An arrow will represent a method call, or a function call. The activations are vertical boxes which are used to symbolize the call. Each activation will be separated by life lines, which will come in the form of dashed lines.

UML Diagrams and Their relationship to Perl

When you work with UML and Perl simultaneously, you can create diagrams which are orthodoxed or unorthodoxies. The box at the top should always symbolize specific instances, rather than classes. Some developers prefer this style because it will make the diagram more compact horizontally. If you create a diagram which is orthodox, you may be able to see specific Die objects that are aggregated by the DiePair instance. The reason for this is because there is a box at the top of every object, and if you use your imagination when you think of the driver as an instance, this can be helpful. Instead of the names coming from code, they will be assigned from the name of the class.

These diagrams are quite useful when a class interacts with another. For example, many of these classes or interactions will start with a user event, and they will show how the communication occurs between the controller and the data model. A good example of such an interaction is the button press on a GUI program. This diagram is also useful in situations where programs must communicate through network sockets. Within these diagrams, each program will have a box, and the arrows will be used to represent the writing which exists on a socket. It should also be noted that the UML sequence diagrams may also come with arrows that are dashed, and this means that the return values are being sent to the callers.

With the exception of something being strange about the value, there is little need to waste space on a diagram which has this type of return. At the same time, if you’re dealing with a network situation, showing both the back and forth portions can be useful. It should be noted that the UML::Sequence offers support for return arrows. Learning how to use the UML::Sequence properly is very important. Once you know how to read a sequence diagram, you will be able to make them without drawing tools that are mouse driven. First you will need to create the text file or program. After this, you will need to take the genericseq.pl to generate XML that can be used to describe the diagram. After this, you will need to use the rendering script to transform the XML into an image type file.

UML with PHP

There are a number of additional advantages you can gain by using UML in conjunction with PHP. The Unified Modeling Language can be used to represent programming languages which are object oriented. PHP is unique since it can be either object oriented or page oriented. With PHP, the code can also be embedded in the page. Some tweaks may be required for UML if you want this phenomenon to be showcased properly. The UML diagram structures are extremely valuable, and variables or methods can be made visible by adding either a "+" for visible or a "-" for private in front of the variable and class. A static variable can be defined by underlining them.

It should also be noted that the signature parameter can be used to denote methods, and it can also serve as the return type for these functions. The Unified Modeling Language is important for the Representation of the PHP pages. The basic concept behind this is to symbolize a page by using the exact graphic element that is used for classes. In this case, they graphic element would be a rectangle. To show that this is a page, a not simply a class, you will want to put "[[“ and “]]" around the name of the page. For example, if a page is named index.php, it should look like this: [[index.php]]. The variable is used to represent the variables which have been defined external to the functions of the page. These may also be known as the page global variables.

It should also be noted that the functions and variables will always be made public. The functions will be used to denote the functions which are symbolized on the page. The classes should be defined on the page as separate classes within the diagram. Relationships are an important concept of using UML with PHP. The inheritance can be defined as the open arrow which points to the parent class. The PHP pages will not participate in these inheritance relationships. An association is a semantically important link which exists among two classes. The association will be represented with a line, along with a label that sits on top. A closed arrow will be used to showcase the directionality of this relationship.

Conclusion

In the case of PHP pages, you will want to use this element to add the "include" relationship between the pages. It should also be noted that this can only be used for PHP pages, and is of little use for PHP classes. The aggregation will be used to represent the case where a class instance may contain multiple instances of other classes. While the containment may be only referential, it will indicate one instance that may have pointers to additional instances. The aggregation can also be used for the modeling of classes within PHP, and the PHP page may have instances of multiple PHP classes. However, it would not contain multiple PHP pages.