UML
UML (Unified Modeling Language) is a standardized family of diagrams used in software engineering to model systems, including class, sequence, activity, state, and use-case diagrams.
In depth
UML was created in the 1990s by Grady Booch, Ivar Jacobson, and James Rumbaugh and standardized by the OMG. It groups diagrams into structural (class, component, deployment) and behavioral (use case, activity, state machine, sequence, communication) families. The notation is verbose but expressive enough to model an entire system.
In practice, most teams adopt a small subset — usually class diagrams, sequence diagrams, and activity diagrams. Lighter-weight alternatives like C4 model are increasingly popular for documenting modern microservice architectures.
OpenCharts supports the most common UML diagram types via structured node families and templates: class, sequence, activity, and state. Generation works from a code description or system context prompt.
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Build a UML diagramRelated terms
Sequence diagram
A sequence diagram is a UML interaction diagram that shows how objects or actors exchange messages over time, with vertical lifelines and horizontal arrows.
State machine
A state machine (or state diagram) is a diagram that shows the discrete states an object can be in and the transitions that move it between states, often with conditions or events on each transition.
System context diagram
A system context diagram is a high-level architecture diagram that shows a system as a single box at the center, surrounded by the people and external systems it interacts with.