<chapter id="introduction">
<title>Introduction</title>

<para>
&umbrello; is a &UML; diagram tool that can support you
in the software development process.
Especially during the analysis and design phases of this process, &umbrello; will help you to
get a high quality product. &UML; can also be used to document your software designs to help you and your
fellow developers.
</para>
<para>
Having a good model of your software is the best way to communicate with
other developers working on the project and with your customers. A good model
is extremely important for medium and big-size projects, but it is also very useful
for small ones. Even if you are working on a small one man project you
will benefit from a good model because it will give you an overview that will help
you code things right the first time.
</para>
<para>
&UML; is the diagramming language used to describing such models. You can represent your ideas in &UML;
using different types of diagrams. &umbrello; 1.2 supports the following types:
</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Class Diagram</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Sequence Diagram</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Collaboration Diagram</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Use Case Diagram</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>State Diagram</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Activity Diagram</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Component Diagram</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Deployment Diagram</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>
More information about &UML; can be found at the website of
<ulink url="http://www.omg.org"><acronym>OMG</acronym>, http://www.omg.org</ulink> who create the &UML; standard.
</para>
<para>
We hope you enjoy &umbrello; and that it helps you create high quality software.
&umbrello; is Free Software and available at no cost, the only thing we ask from you is to report any bugs, problems, or suggestions
to the &umbrello; developers at <email>uml-devel@lists.sourceforge.net</email> or 
<ulink url="http://bugs.trinitydesktop.org">http://bugs.trinitydesktop.org</ulink>.
</para>
</chapter>
