The fundamental issue I see with modeling tools is the lack of a feedback loop to keep the modeling/design materials up to date with the implementation. Starting from a blank sheet is easy but adding, modifying, and deleting typically requires a huge investment. I would like a streamlined tool that integrates my business analysis work, with my implementation artifacts, and finally with my test suites. I have not found a solution to date.

The fundamental issue I see with modeling tools is the lack of a feedback loop to keep the modeling/design materials up to date with the implementation. Starting from a blank sheet is easy but adding, modifying, and deleting typically requires a huge investment. I would like a streamlined tool that integrates my business analysis work, with my implementation artifacts, and finally with my test suites. I have not found a solution to date.

Joe,
You make some great points in the article. You should check out the preview release of NetBeans 5.5 available at [visit link]
It contains UML tools, a BPEL engine, and XML tools all for free.

Tim Cramer
Director: NetBeans

I have just finished reviewing the book Open Source Development Tools for Java, which provides excellent coverage of such topics as log4J, CVS, Ant, and JUnit. There is a chapter on UML tools though in which the author almost apologizes for the lack of good open source design tools. There is a plethora of projects on SourceForge.net from J2EE runtime frameworks to IDE plugins, yet there is almost nothing that encroaches upward into the arena of analysis and design tools.