Rating: 
Summary: UML by Example - thanks C.T.
Review: "Enterprise Java with UML" (John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 0-471-38680-4) ) by C.T. Arrington is an excellent book covering the topic of Software Development using UML.This book is about modeling all phases of the software lifecycle using the Unified Modeling Language (UML) to build the artifacts. The author describes the modeling process for requirements gathering, Object Oriented Analysis, technology selection, software architecture, software design and implementation. The author demonstrated the advantage of participants utilizing a common language (UML notation) for communication. The author stressed viewing each phase from the proper perspective. For example, requirements gathering must emphasize viewing the model from the customer's perspective as the model is developed while Object Oriented analysis is a view from the developers perspective. The author also identified diagrams that are used for each phase. For requirements gathering the diagrams will include use case diagrams, text descriptions of each use case, and activity diagrams. During Object Oriented analysis, diagrams will include class diagrams, state charts, package diagrams, sequence diagrams, and collaboration diagrams. The author also provided useful steps and evaluation criteria to identify when a phase is successfully completed and when entry to the next phase was premature. The book is organized in pairs of chapters. One chapter discusses theory followed by a chapter that uses the theory to implement a sample project. The sample project is an example of a time recording system and demonstrates the phases of modeling as the book progresses through each phase. Experienced developers will want to focus on the chapters that model the sample. These chapters contain tips and evaluation criteria that are not found in the chapters on theory. Two observations that would improve the usability of this book: a quick reference for UML notation, and a list of diagrams for each phase with references to the figures in the text. This book is an easy read and practical enough that it makes an excellent textbook on implementing software projects using UML.
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Summary: Quickly and Easily Applied to Real Projects
Review: As a Requirements Analyst and a budding Java Developer, I found Arrington's book to be EXTREMELY helpful. I used Enterprise Java with UML as both an initial learning tool and as a reference book for my daily project work with OO Requirements, Analysis, and Design. The use of the UML in these ares made my Java Development much easier and faster. It is easy to follow and includes helpful tips on how to overcome some of the common challenges faced during OO Software Development.
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Summary: real UML for real projects, from a real Architect
Review: Now I really know what UML is, finally I have a clear idea on how to apply it in real projects (not only J2EE ones), and I can appreciate its value as a great way to communicate ideas. The Author's *real* experience really shines through: everything is explained in practical terms, the examples are of a quality that can rarely be found in books (simple but not trivial, rich in details but not verbose, and thoroughly discussed and carefully engineered), quality that can only be the product of clear and sound understanding of the matters, understanding made in the trenches of complex projects.
Need to know UML ? Here I've found the clearest explanation of the various UML diagrams, with simple examples to convey the fundamental features of every diagram; forget the "UML in 24 hours" books!
Another great value of this book is the discussion of how to map the UML diagrams in Java: it was invaluable for me, since I could immediately use my OOP experience to get a practical feeling of the diagrams, in so reinforcing my understanding; an UML association, at the end, it's just a member variable, and I wonder why this is one of the few books that tells you that immediately, without filling the pages with a dozen of Academic words and acronyms.
And everything applied to J2EE, that hot technology that only a few have had experience with ... with the usual high quality, especially the discussions of the strong and weak points of every J2EE sub-technology.
Five stars!
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Summary: Excellent application of J2EE against UML
Review: The book is very well versed and comprehensive.It is less focused on sweet talking a first grader, but rather digging into what is important and applying the concepts to something tangible. I recommend this book to those new and experienced with UML. Additionally, I am eager to see the next edition which will be up to date and applicable to new technology.
Rating: 
Summary: Strong OOAD & UML
Review: The OOAD & UML content of this book is excellent! The chapters on requirement gathering, use case driven analysis are very good, as well as the discussion of technology selection and software architecture approach. The user's approach is very systematic and practical, showing in-depth understanding and solid experience from real world projects. However, the J2EE technology discussion are relatively light, with some material slightly outdated. Also, there is no discussion of JSP - an important J2EE presentation tier technology - at all. Considering the book is published well after JSP was released, this is definitely a major pitfall. Overall, the book is worth reading, even just for the requirement and analysis part!
Rating:
Summary: Have not read a better book on the subject
Review: This book is fairly good to treat J2EE and UML. However, there are some mistakes in the book: 1)Page 11, * should mean 0 or more. So, "Each person object may be associated with several Car objects" is wrong, should be " 0 or more Car objects". According to the OMG UML 1.4 specificaiton ..., seciton 3.44: "If the multiplicity specification comprises a single star (*), then it denotes the unlimited nonnegative integer range, that is, it is equivalent to 0..* (zero or more)." 2) Page 52, fig 3.2 is WRONG! It has only join, no fork. In an UML diagram, the fork and join must be paired! According to Rational Rose 2002 help: "Every fork that appears on an activity diagram should ideally be accompanied by a corresponding join. ". Besides these errors, I think it is a good book. Thanks, David Zuo.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book for OO Analysis
Review: This book takes you through the development of an application from proposal to implementation. In alternating chapters the authors explain the use of UML for a particular step in the development lifecycle and then demonstrate what they just explained to develop a sample timecard system. The best part of the book, which is not significantly different than the first edition, is the first half in which the authors discuss requirements gathering and object oriented analysis. The book is worth the price for this first part alone. The second half of the book has been expanded to discuss new J2EE technologies. The chapters on evaluating technologies are good as far as discussing how to evaluate technologies but the actual analysis is weak as they ignore candidate technologies such as Struts in favor of their own homegrown HTML production framework. They also fail to explain why EJBs are a better choice for their sample application than simply using Servlets/JSPs/JDBC. The final section on design gets bogged down with too many pages of code listings and not enough explanations for the code. Arrington and Rayhan have done a very good job explaining UML although some familiarity with UML notation (or at least a handy manual) would be helpful. If you already own the first edition then you can ignore this edition. If you don't own it then you will definitely want to read this book. This is a must have book for any Java architect/developer doing OOAD.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book for OO Analysis
Review: This book takes you through the development of an application from proposal to implementation. In alternating chapters the authors explain the use of UML for a particular step in the development lifecycle and then demonstrate what they just explained to develop a sample timecard system. The best part of the book, which is not significantly different than the first edition, is the first half in which the authors discuss requirements gathering and object oriented analysis. The book is worth the price for this first part alone. The second half of the book has been expanded to discuss new J2EE technologies. The chapters on evaluating technologies are good as far as discussing how to evaluate technologies but the actual analysis is weak as they ignore candidate technologies such as Struts in favor of their own homegrown HTML production framework. They also fail to explain why EJBs are a better choice for their sample application than simply using Servlets/JSPs/JDBC. The final section on design gets bogged down with too many pages of code listings and not enough explanations for the code. Arrington and Rayhan have done a very good job explaining UML although some familiarity with UML notation (or at least a handy manual) would be helpful. If you already own the first edition then you can ignore this edition. If you don't own it then you will definitely want to read this book. This is a must have book for any Java architect/developer doing OOAD.
Rating:
Summary: One niggle
Review: This is a good introductory book for UML in general. My one complaint is in the handling of the diagrams. Whoever put the book together was loathe to put any diagrams in the middle of pages, so they are all at the top or bottom of a page; consequently they are sometimes in the wrong place - in the middle of a previous section, on another page, or some other odd place.
Rating:
Summary: Great first UML book for a Java developer
Review: This is a very good book for someone who has a worked with java at the developer level and is thinking about making the jump to the architect level. Arrington is an experienced teacher and his teaching proficiency shows all along the book. His style is very clear and sometimes repetitive, but that makes sure you get the idea through.
Being a "hands on type of guy" I like the fact that the book explains the theory in the context of developing and example application.
The UML & Object Oriented Analysis section of the book is truly outstanding, while the implementation part leaves a bit to be desired. It is also outdated as it still uses HTML production classes inside Servlets and not JSP. The second edition should fix this.
Overall the best book on UML for a Java developer I have read so far.
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