Plant UML – open-source UML Tool

• plantuml

  123 9,688 9.4 Java

  Generate diagrams from textual description

  

I have used Plant UML a lot and I love it. Anything that can help me draw less figures is a bonus and the markup language they use is pretty flexible and ergonomic.

However, I have one major gripe with Plant UML. About 3-4 years ago, my local install started showing memorial plaques for people who died in a terrorist attack in Paris [1]. While this attack was undoubtedly a horrible event, I still feel it is deeply unprofessional to include stuff like that in a program, and it makes me lose all trust in the developers. If they had just added a memorial section in the program, it would have been fine. However, for every error generating a diagram, Plant UML would show a popup window with a picture and a text in memory of that person.

This is similar to what the Notepad++ developer(s) did back in 2013-ish where they had a memorial build into a new release of the program. On startup, Notepad++ would write (literally type it out) some message into the default empty document [2].

It might be a bit harsh. But in my mind, if the developers of these programs can be so influenced as to push this onto their unsuspecting users, I feel they have misused my trust. It makes me think: "What are they going to put into it next? Malware? Perhaps watermark the output with a statement?"

Since these events, I have avoided Notepad++ entirely and been reluctant to use Plant UML, but used it out of necessity.

[1] https://github.com/plantuml/plantuml/issues/25

• planter

  4 533 4.3 Go

  Generate PlantUML ER diagram textual description from PostgreSQL tables

I use Plant UML in combination with planter [1] to auto-generate a DB schema during CI runs.

Recently I see a lot general statements on HN like "UML is dead" which I think is not the case. Especially in complex, data-heavy projects it's a great way to visualize how things work -- if kept up-to-date and precise.

[1] https://github.com/achiku/planter

• SurveyJS

  surveyjs.io featured

  Open-Source JSON Form Builder to Create Dynamic Forms Right in Your App. With SurveyJS form UI libraries, you can build and style forms in a fully-integrated drag & drop form builder, render them in your JS app, and store form submission data in any backend, inc. PHP, ASP.NET Core, and Node.js.

  

• Azure-PlantUML

  6 446 2.1 JavaScript

  PlantUML sprites, macros, and other includes for Azure services

  

• aws-icons-for-plantuml

  5 856 4.7 Python

  PlantUML sprites, macros, and other includes for Amazon Web Services services and resources

  

• gcp-icons-for-plantuml

  2 26 0.0 Python

  PlantUML sprites, macros, and other includes for Google Cloud Platform services and resources

• mermaid

  124 67,199 10.0 JavaScript

  Generation of diagrams like flowcharts or sequence diagrams from text in a similar manner as markdown

  

Huge fan of the Javascript equivalent, although not as featureful: https://mermaid-js.github.io/mermaid/#/

Gitlab has support for it built-in, and so do many Markdown editors (https://marknoteapp.com/).

Suggest a related project