Diagramming is an important tool to have in one’s repertoire but how can one go about learning to do it effectively? This presentation will shed some light on some use cases plus share some research. Learn about different types of software diagrams, the different diagramming tools available, and Visio tips & tricks to make your diagrams pretty.

1. A Software Architect’s View on
Diagramming
By: Keith Schreiner

3. Types of Diagrams
(for this presentation)
• High-Level
• (Enterprise Architecture) [Very few boxes]
• Hardware
• (System Architecture) [The Servers]
• Application
• (Application or Component Architecture)
• Sequence

4. Other types of diagrams:
UML Diagrams
• Unified Modeling Language (UML)
• A standard (ISO 19501) general-purpose modeling
language for software engineering.
• Created in the 1990’s by Rational Software.

5. Other types of diagrams:
UML Diagrams
Class Diagram
State Diagram

6. Other types of diagrams:
UML Diagrams
Activity Diagram

7. Other types of diagrams:
Database Diagrams

8. Types of Diagrams
(for this presentation)
• High-Level
• (Enterprise Architecture) [Very few boxes]
• Hardware
• (System Architecture) [The Servers]
• Application
• (Application or Component Architecture)
• Sequence

9. High-Level Example

10. High-Level Example

11. High-Level Example

12. Hardware Diagrams
• Also called:
– “System Architecture”
– “Logical Architecture”
– “Physical Architecture”
• Lists servers
• Can be simple or complex

13. Hardware Example

14. Hardware Example

15. Hardware Example

16. Hardware Example

17. Hardware Example

18. Application Diagrams
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Also called “Component Diagrams”
Are the most common type of diagram
Can show how app’s interact, or
Can show the “internals” of an app
Are often complex
But the goal is to make them easy to “read”

19. Application Example

20. Application Example

21. Application Example

22. Application Example

23. Application Example

24. Application Example

25. Application Example

26. Application Example

27. Application Example

28. Sequence Diagrams
• An interaction diagram that shows how
processes operate with one another and in
what order.
• Also called:
– Event Diagram
– Timing Diagram

29. Sequence Example

30. Sequence Example

31. Tools?

32. Whiteboard

33. Paper & Pencil or
Whiteboard and Camera
• Very easy and quick to use.
• Should be your starting point before going to
an electric tool.
• No rules, just draw, erase, and draw some
more.

34. Microsoft Visio
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The “500 pound gorilla” of diagramming software.
While a part of the “Office” suite, Visio is its own product.
It used to be a part of an MSDN subscription, but no more.
$300 - $600. Or $13 to $18 a month with Office 365.

35. OmniGraffle for Mac
Like Visio, but on a Mac or iPad ($100-$200)

36. Sparx System’s
“Enterprise Architect”
A diagramming tool with many awards & versions. $200-$700. Like “Visual Studio”. Big learning curve.

37. SmartDraw
A top diagramming and charting tool. Like an easy-to-use Microsoft Office. $300-$600

38. Online Tools
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Gliffy
Lucid Chart
Draw.io
Creatley
More…
Some free, some paid.

39. WebSequenceDiagrams.com
• Other tools can create sequence diagrams, but
this is the easiest.
• Free, create an account (to save diagrams on
their server), and a paid version (for more
features)
• Demo: Arrows, Notes, Groups, more…
• API.
• Plug-ins.
Demo: http://www.websequencediagrams.com/

40. Microsoft Visio
• Visio can be intimidating & complex, but it can
do lots of things.
• To help myself get starting, I either steal an
existing diagram or start with my “Legend”
diagram.
• Can also start from one of Visio’s templates.

41. Visio Tips and Tricks
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Boxes
Arrows
Add Notes, Steps
Other objects
– Visio Stencils
– Clip Art
– Google Image Search

42. Visio Tips and Tricks
• Add a Title
• Figure out who this diagram is for.
– Create different diagrams for different people.
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Use Colors
Add a Legend
Make lines don’t overlap
Make readable
Possibly be printer-friendly.