UML stands for Unified Modeling Language. It is a standard visual modeling language in the field of software engineering. It provides the standard way to visualize the design of a system. It is intended to be used for analysis, design and implementation of software-based systems, modeling business and similar processes. The first version of UML was developed by Grady Booch, Ivar Jacobson and Jim Rumbaugh. Its current version is UML 2.5, released in June 2015.
UML was created as a standard by the Object Management Group (OMG) in 1997. In 2005, it was published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as an approved ISO standard. Since then it is revised periodically to cover the latest revision of UML.
According to OMG, the purpose of UML is as follows:
UML is different from other programming languages such as Java, C++, COBOL etc. It is a pictorial language that is used to make blueprints of software. It is commonly used by business analysts, software architects, and developers to describe, specify and document the existing or new business processes and structure and behavior of artifacts of software systems.
Furthermore, UML can be applied to various application domains such as banking, internet, healthcare, aerospace etc. It can also be used with software development methods and for various implementation platforms such as J2EE, .NET).