Diagnosing and Recovering from UML Fever (Score 3, Interesting)

I have just submitted a sequel to the Death by UML Fever article that appeared in the March 2004 ACM Queue magazine. It is scheduled to be published in March 2005. Beyond describing the Fevers which were the focus of the original "Death" article, the new article further elaborates on its symptoms, describes things people with UML Fever say, and introduces a 12 Step Recovery program complete with a "UML Serenity Prayer". It is quite clear, however, that UML Fever does not exist in this audience so you can read it for a good laugh.

The tragedy here is that the big marketing machines have brainwashed the gullible, desperate, and ignorant into believing that UML is a silver bullet. As a result, diagram making robots are often directed to generate their beautiful models for unknown stakeholders and with unknown value to create the illusion of progress (Gravitational Fever: Afflictees measure progress by the weight of their UML diagrams).This is just one scenario of many that gives the UML a black eye.

Let's face it, any tool can be misused and abused. People need to learn to use the UML where it is valuable to do so, at the proper level of detail, and with appropriate completeness. When used under the proper adult supervision, the UML truly can be a valuable communication and visualization tool with which to improve productivity as opposed to killing it.

Is Death by MDA Fever around the bend?