<s>
An	O
object-modeling	B-Application
language	I-Application
is	O
a	O
standardized	O
set	O
of	O
symbols	O
used	O
to	O
model	O
a	O
software	O
system	O
using	O
an	O
object-oriented	B-Language
framework	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
modeling	O
language	O
is	O
usually	O
associated	O
with	O
a	O
methodology	O
for	O
object-oriented	B-Language
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Or	O
the	O
Rumbaugh	O
Object	B-Application
Modeling	I-Application
Technique	I-Application
is	O
both	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
diagrams	O
and	O
a	O
process	O
model	O
for	O
developing	O
object-oriented	B-Language
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
early	O
years	O
of	O
the	O
object-oriented	B-Language
community	O
there	O
were	O
several	O
competing	O
modeling	O
and	O
methodology	O
standards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
object-oriented	B-Language
community	O
values	O
re-use	O
and	O
standardization	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
graphic	O
shows	O
the	O
evolution	O
of	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
important	O
object	B-Application
modeling	I-Application
language	I-Application
standards	O
:	O
the	O
Unified	B-Language
Modeling	I-Language
Language	I-Language
(	O
UML	B-Language
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
UML	B-Language
began	O
as	O
an	O
attempt	O
by	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
major	O
thought	O
leaders	O
in	O
the	O
community	O
to	O
define	O
a	O
standard	O
language	O
at	O
the	O
OOPSLA	O
'	O
95	O
Conference	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
followed	O
by	O
Booch	O
's	O
company	O
Rational	O
Software	O
purchasing	O
Ivar	O
Jacobson	O
's	O
Objectory	O
company	O
and	O
merging	O
their	O
model	O
into	O
the	O
UML	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
Rational	O
and	O
Objectory	O
were	O
two	O
of	O
the	O
dominant	O
players	O
in	O
the	O
small	O
world	O
of	O
independent	O
vendors	O
of	O
Object-Oriented	B-Language
tools	O
and	O
methods	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Object	B-Architecture
Management	I-Architecture
Group	I-Architecture
then	O
picked	O
up	O
and	O
took	O
over	O
ownership	O
of	O
the	O
UML	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
OMG	O
is	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
influential	O
standards	O
organizations	O
in	O
the	O
object-oriented	B-Language
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
UML	B-Language
is	O
both	O
a	O
formal	O
metamodel	O
and	O
a	O
collection	O
of	O
graphical	O
templates	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
meta-model	O
defines	O
the	O
elements	O
in	O
an	O
object-oriented	B-Language
model	O
such	O
as	O
classes	O
and	O
properties	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
essentially	O
the	O
same	O
thing	O
as	O
the	O
meta-model	O
in	O
object-oriented	B-Language
languages	I-Language
such	O
as	O
Smalltalk	O
or	O
CLOS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
UML	B-Language
meta-model	O
provides	O
a	O
mathematical	O
formal	O
foundation	O
for	O
the	O
various	O
graphic	O
views	O
used	O
by	O
the	O
modeling	O
language	O
to	O
describe	O
an	O
emerging	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
diagram	O
illustrates	O
the	O
class	O
hierarchy	O
of	O
the	O
various	O
graphic	O
templates	O
defined	O
by	O
the	O
UML	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Structure	B-Language
diagrams	I-Language
define	O
the	O
static	O
structure	O
of	O
an	O
object	O
:	O
its	O
place	O
in	O
the	O
class	O
hierarchy	O
,	O
its	O
relation	O
to	O
other	O
objects	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
