Modeling Web Application Architectures with UML
By: Jim Conallen, Rational Software. All Rights Reserved.June 1999
A version of this material appears in the October 1999 (volume 42, number 10) issue of Communications of the ACM.
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Abstract
Web applications are becoming increasingly complex and mission-critical. To help manage this complexity, they need to be modeled. UML is the standard language for modeling software-intensive systems. When attempting to model Web applications with UML, it becomes apparent that some of its components don't fit nicely into standard UML modeling elements. To stick with one modeling notation for the entire system (Web components and traditional middle tier components), UML must be extended. This paper presents an extension to the UML using its formal extension mechanism. The extension is designed so that Web-specific components can be integrated with the rest of the system's model, and to exhibit the proper level of abstraction and detail for suitable for designers, implementers, and architects of Web applications.
