This book is written for students and developers who wish to master the essential skills and techniques in applying the UML for software development. The reader will learn object-oriented analysis, design and implementation using appropriate UML models, process, techniques and tool. Accompanying the book is the "Community Edition of Visual Pradigm for UML (VP-UML)", an award-winning CASE tool, which allows the reader to put the theories learned into practice immediately. The authors propose a novel framework for modeling and analysis called the View Alignment Techniques (VAT) that helps software developers create development methods. The Activity Analysis Approach (A3), which is particularly suited for the development of interaction-intensive systems, is described. These concepts have been well proven, as they were followed closely in the development of the VP-UML CASE tool.Three chapters in this book describe structural, use case and dynamic modeling and analysis techniques, together with practical tricks and tips that have been gained by the authors from many years of experience. Each of these three chapters includes a mini-case study which illustrates the unique "from diagram to code" concept in software development. In the final chapter, a major case study is included to help the reader reinforce the theories learned in previous chapters using VP-UML.The key areas in object-oriented technology covered in the book include - Requirements modeling using cases: Identifying, capturing and elaborating requirements; Domain analysis for object identification: Building structural models for objects and their attributes and relationships; Dynamic analysis and design: Building dynamic models, refining structural models and making design decisions; Implementation: Translating UML models into codes and implementations; Method creation and the framework of View Alignment Techniques: Choosing the right UML models and customizing the analysis and design process; and, A case study: Showing how the Activity Analysis Approach is put into practice, using VP-UML.Instructors will benefit from useful tools such as PowerPoint slides (password protected) and answers to exercises (password protected), while students can obtain source code and additional exercises and test questions. Visual Paradigm for UML, the CASE tool used extensively in this book, was honored in the 15th Annual Software Development Magazine Jolt Productivity Award in the Design and Analysis Tools category in March 2004. It has also recently won two more accolades: Oracle JDeveloper Extensions Developer of the Year 2004 and Hong Kong Computer Society 6th IT Excellence Silver Award 2004. The Community Edition of this CASE tool is included in this book to enable the reader to use its powerful and easy-to-use features for system modeling, analysis and implementation.