By understanding the differences between UML and ERD, the best benefits can be known, especially in application development.
Many people wonder about the differences between UML and ERD when they hear these terms.
UML stands for Unified Modeling Language, while ERD stands for Entity Relationship Diagram.
UML is a visual modeling language used to describe, document, and design software systems. UML allows software developers to visually represent systems in the form of diagrams, which can help understand the complexity of the system, evaluate and improve software architecture, and communicate with stakeholders.
DFD (Data Flow Diagram) is a diagram used to depict the flow of data within a system. DFD is one form of business process modeling notation that maps processes, inputs, outputs, and data storage. DFD is very useful in identifying problems and needs in a system and helps design more efficient and organized systems.
The differences between UML and ERD are:
Unified Modelling Language (UML) is a modelling language that is used to build object-oriented applications. The main goal of UML is to visualize the behavior and structure of a system.
In more detail, the difference between UML and ERD is as follows:
Usage
The usage of UML and ERD is different from one another. Essentially, UML is used to design the entire software system while ERD is used to design only the database.
Key attributes
UML and ERD have different key attributes. UML has key attributes such as object diagram, class diagram, activity diagram, sequence diagram, and communication diagram. While ERD has key attributes such as entities, attributes, cardinality, ordinality, and number of relationship instances. It can be said that ERD is a diagram itself while UML consists of many diagrams.
Scale
From the scale perspective, UML is more often used to develop software on a large scale, while ERD is usually used to develop databases on all scales.
Components
UML and ERD also have different components. UML has components such as use cases and workflows, while ERD has components such as entities, attributes, and relationships.
Primary users
Developers understand the flow of applications designed using UML, while ERD is used by business owners to ensure that desired requirements have been met
Shapes used
UML has shapes such as circles, rounded rectangular, arrowheads, diamonds, rectangular, etc. While ERD is simpler because it only uses three shapes, namely rectangular, oval, and diamond.
Swimlanes
Another difference is that UML uses swimlanes in activity diagrams while ERD does not
Time
UML can depict the time used during activities, while ERD does not represent time.
Type
UML has two types, namely structural UML diagrams and behavioral UML diagrams, while ERD does not have types but contains entities, relationships, and attributes.
These differences between UML and ERD make them both provide good benefits when used.
Conclusion
UML is used to depict the entire software system, including system functionality and structure, while DFD only focuses on data flow in a system. DFD is also more focused on business processes and data flow, while UML can be used to depict various aspects of software systems, such as requirements, analysis, design, and implementation.
Writer : Meilina Eka A
