Modeling and Design Workshop

Six parts on design before code: draw what the user does, then the parts of the system, then the order of events, and pick the right shape for your data with evidence rather than guesses.

OverviewSix parts on design before code: UML from use cases through to behaviour, then the alternative data models. And every diagram here was executed or measured for real, including a bug that running it exposed in the order o
Why draw before you type?A diagram is not decoration for a report but a question being answered. This lesson sets out which question each diagram answers, and when drawing is a waste of time.
The use case diagramThe simplest UML diagram and the most misused. It asks one question: who wants something from the system, and what is it?
The class diagramThe diagram that becomes code and tables almost word for word. What matters most are the numbers on the lines, and running it as drawn exposed a bug in the order of the checks.
Behaviour: sequence and activityTwo diagrams that show time rather than structure: who calls whom and in what order, and what steps and decisions a process has. One of them exposes a bug the class diagram hides.
Beyond the table: alternative data modelsFour non-relational families with the same data drawn in each, then a real measurement of the same question on the same relationships in every model.
Choosing by evidenceHundreds of times faster to read, at the price of stale documents after a single rename. This lesson measures the trade-off and then gives you a five-question decision frame.
Wrap-up and resourcesThe best outside resources for these lessons, classified by kind and level. All are open to everyone and need no account on any platform. Use the filters to narrow the list.