Teaching Model Views with UML and OCL

Abstract

The specification of any non-trivial system is normally composed of a set of models. Each model describes a different view of the system, focuses on a particular set of concerns, and uses its own notation. For example, UML defines a set of diagrams for modelling the structure and behavior of any software system. One of the problems we perceived with our students is that they are able to understand each one of these diagrams, but they have problems understanding how they are related, and how the overall system specifications work when composed of a set of views. This paper presents a simple case study that we have developed and successfully used in class, which permits students developing the principal views of a system, simulate them, and check their relations.