Earlier this month, the Unified Modeling Language (UML) 2.0 Superstructure specification was endorsed by the OMG in Paris, France. This new version of the standard in modeling languages brings a wealth of changes to the UML. A team of industry experts including Borlands Karl Frank brought this new standard forward after three years of hard work. Borland has been active in the OMG for many years.

Being endorsed by the OMG doesnt mean that the UML 2.0 standard is ready to be distributed to the public. The UML 2.0 standard is set to come out in two phases. The first release is set for October of this year pending a vote by the OMG membership and a board of directors endorsement. However, books and articles on this new version of the UML will start to appear in the third quarter.

The second phase could take as long as a year. This phase includes a finalization process (by the Finalization Task Force) that will result in a final edit. The content of the specification could change during this time, as work to align the UML with the MOF proceeds. The OMG will then release this new specification to the public as the official version of the standard.

So what can you look forward to in this new version of this increasingly popular modeling language? The UML is moving toward a tighter relationship with programming languages and environments. Some of the evolutions in the UML 2.0 specification include greater support for component-based development, additions to the activity diagram for business process modeling, statechart improvements, and a better mapping to the UML metamodel (called the MOF).

There have been many changes from the UML 1.5 specification. Over the next few months, and as changes occur, we will be bringing you a new series called Whats New in UML 2? Each article in the series will look at one of the new improvements and describe it in detail. The goal is to bring you the latest developments in this new UML specification.

The latest advances in the UML are something that Borland has worked to bring out in its Together products for some time. We included a UML 2.0 profile in one of our Together Editions that was released in December of 2002. We will continue to work with the OMG and our Together product line to bring you the latest advances to help your project succeed.