Comparative Analysis: UML Modeling Tools and Their Applications

This report provides a comparative analysis of two popular UML modeling tools: draw.io and Lucidchart. The analysis covers similarities such as web-based functionality, custom libraries, Visio import, revision handling, and metadata support. The report also highlights the differences, including automatic layout, plug-in support, open-source status, and enterprise browser compatibility. Based on these factors, draw.io is recommended due to its free availability, ease of use, and open-source nature, which provides better community and service support. The report references relevant literature to support the findings, making it a valuable resource for students and professionals seeking to choose the most suitable UML modeling tool for their needs. It also mentions the ability to save files directly to Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox. The report concludes by justifying the selection of draw.io over Lucidchart, emphasizing the importance of features, pricing, and community support in the decision-making process.

Running head: REVIEW OF THE UML MODELING TOOLS
REVIEW OF THE UML MODELING TOOLS
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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REVIEW OF THE UML MODELING TOOLS
Table of Contents
Review of the tolls:..........................................................................................................................2
Similarities:..................................................................................................................................2
Web based:...............................................................................................................................2
Custom libraries:......................................................................................................................2
Visio import:............................................................................................................................2
Revision handling:...................................................................................................................2
Metadata:.................................................................................................................................2
Dissimilarities:.............................................................................................................................3
Automatic layout:....................................................................................................................3
Plug-in support:.......................................................................................................................3
Open source:............................................................................................................................3
Support for Enterprise browser:...............................................................................................3
Justification for the suggestion:.......................................................................................................3
References:......................................................................................................................................4

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REVIEW OF THE UML MODELING TOOLS
Review of the tolls:
Two of the most popular UML modeling tools are draw.io and lucid chart. The
similarities and differences between these tolls that will be presented in the following section
(Bower 2015):
Similarities:
Web based:
Both the tolls are web based and work online.
Custom libraries:
Both the tolls have support for the custom libraries.
Visio import:
Both the tolls offer to work with the VSIO format. Revision handling:
Revision handling:
Both the tolls support revision handling.
Metadata:
Both the tool has support for metadata.

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REVIEW OF THE UML MODELING TOOLS
Dissimilarities:
Automatic layout:
Automatic layout for design is supported by only draw.io.
Plug-in support:
Draw.io supports various top rated plug-in like the JIRA plug-in to make the designing
easy.
Open source:
Lucid chart is not open sourced unlike draw.io.
Support for Enterprise browser:
Draw.io supports enterprise browser lucid chart does not.
Justification for the suggestion:
Based on the above factors, draw.io is suggested as the online UML modeling tolls.
Draw.io makes it easy to save files directly to Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox in addition to
file saving to computer. Draw.io is completely free while it requires investing 5 to 20 USD per
month for the services offered lucid chart (Lucidchart 2018). Draw.io is open source which
ensures better community support as well as service support for the tool (Hebig et al. 2016).

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REVIEW OF THE UML MODELING TOOLS
References:
Bower, M., 2015. A typology of Web 2.0 learning technologies. EDUCAUSE, Feb, 8, p.2015.
Hebig, R., Quang, T.H., Chaudron, M.R., Robles, G. and Fernandez, M.A., 2016, October. The
quest for open source projects that use UML: mining GitHub. In Proceedings of the ACM/IEEE
19th International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems (pp. 173-
183). ACM.
Lucidchart. (2018). Terms of Service. [online] Available at:
https://www.lucidchart.com/pages/tos [Accessed 8 Apr. 2018].