[Tfug] UML packages

[Bexley Hall]

Hi Andy,

--- On Mon, 7/27/09, Andrew Ayre <andy at britishideas.com> wrote:

> In my particular area of work the field is never standing
> still for long. I like to learn new things, even if they
> have no direct, obvious or immediate application because I
> will be aware of them when encountering future problems, and
> they may help me solve that problem or see it in a different
> way, a way that I wouldn't have known about.

My sentiments, exactly.  One problem many "professionals"
suffer from is they get stuck in narrow application domains
where the only tools they utilize are those that filter down
*through* that "field".  This is especially true (IME) in
larger firms where projects are sliced and diced into little
bite-sized pieces where someone "on high" has already decided
the approach that will be taken and has *reinforced* that
decision by the delegation of subtasks within it.  :<

But, one thing I have learned is that many problems are the
same despite being in different application domains.  And,
being aware of tools and technologies that might not
SUPERFICIALLY appear suited to your tasks at hand can often
give you a cleverer approach to something that might otherwise
be difficult or tedious.

> I think that learning about new technologies or processes
> also helps a person to continue to be marketable for future
> employers.
> 
> I've come across situations in the past where I started to
> look at something new that I just decided to investigate and
> found an immediate use for it in my work. If you don't look
> into something how will you know that it could be useful?
> 
> I suspect that the members of this list have a wide range
> of jobs and problems they solve. I don't think there is a
> one-size-fits-all approach. Some may have looked at UML and
> found it to be useless for them. Others may have found it to
> have unlocked doors to problems.