Development of the 'Clode' Application: Translator of Class Diagrams into Java Code and Vice Versa

Abstract

Unified Modeling Language (UML) has become the standard modeling language in the software industry for graphical representation of analysis and design models. As students step into the professional world as developers, they will be working with many stakeholders, making miscommunication highly possible among them. In a field that emphasizes small details, effective communication is crucial to keep projects on track. Therefore, it is essential for students to learn UML at university to prepare them for the industrial world.

However, learning UML is not an easy task for students. Studies have shown that students face challenges such as confusion in implementing methods in classes, uncertainty about the information needed to model a class (or method or attribute), difficulty in creating arrow directions, confusion in applying inheritance concepts, difficulty in differentiating inheritance and realization relationships, distinguishing between types of composition and aggregation, and incorrectly creating separate classes without any connections.

This development will result in an application named Clode (Class to Code), capable of assisting students in comprehending the correct and precise implementation of class diagrams, preparing them to collaborate effectively within large teams in the industrial world. The way it operates is by translating students' designed class diagrams into JAVA programming code. Consequently, students will learn how to practically implement class diagrams directly into code. By examining the code directly, students can more easily determine relationships between classes or decide which aspects should be attributes or methods.