The UML Diagram They Don’t Teach You in School
I love class diagrams. When I’m knee-deep in spaghetti code there’s nothing better to help me understand what’s going on. I’ve even developed an obsessive-compulsive disorder which requires me to have a pen and paper handy at all times ‘just in case’ I need to jot down a little class diagram.
But recently I came across a bit of code that was resistant to the power of the class diagram. What if there are no significant class relationships, just a bunch of static methods?
Here’s what I mean:
The solution: a method call diagram. This diagram just shows a circle for each method and an arrow for each method call. From there it’s easy to see how to merge methods and simplify the call structure.
Obvious? Perhaps, but doesn’t seem to get the airplay it deserves.