In addition to a good IDE, one of an architect's key tools is a UML modeling tool. However, if you're in the market for something more sophisticated than a whiteboard, choosing the right tool can be complex and expensive. Unlike IDEs, UML modeling tools haven't really become commoditized and it's still fairly common to pay several thousand dollars for a single license. However, there are cheaper and free alternatives, one of which is Sun Java Studio Enterprise (free Sun Developer Network login required).

In Free UML Tools, Charles Beckham says :

I look around and I see Enterprise UML tools costing from $1,000.00 USD to $4,000USD...so it is glee that I point you to the free Enterprise UML tools provided by Sun Microsystems. To be fair I see many "limited versions or trial downloads at no cost" but what I am talking about here is full "Award Winning Enterprise UML Tools" for no cost with no strings attached.

I've watched the video demonstrating the UML features and the tool does look pretty enticing. Reverse engineering, full roundtrip, support for all major UML diagrams and pattern driven modeling are all shown. No doubt we'll be downloading and taking this (and other) tools for a test-drive sometime in the future. If you've used Java Studio Enterprise, what are your experiences?

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Posted by Simon Brown on 18 January 2006 10:09:10 GMT #