6.5 How to Read this Specification

   The rest of this document contains the technical content of this specification. As background for this specification, readers are encouraged to first read the UML: Infrastructure specification that complements this specification. Part I, Introduction of UML: Infrastructure explains the language architecture structure and the formal approach used for its specification. Afterwards the reader may choose to either explore the InfrastructureLibrary, described in Part II, Infrastructure Library, or the Classes::Kernel package that reuses it, described in Chapter 1, Classes. The former specifies the flexible metamodel library that is reused by the latter; the latter defines the basic constructs used to define the UML metamodel.

   With that background the reader should be well prepared to explore the user level constructs defined in this UML: Superstructure specification. These concepts are organized into three parts: Part I - Structure, Part II - Behavior, and Part III -Supplement. Part I. Structure defines the static, structural constructs (e.g., classes, components, nodes artifacts) used in various structural diagrams, such as class diagrams, component diagrams, and deployment diagrams. Part Part II - Behavior specifies the dynamic, behavioral constructs (e.g., activities, interactions, state machines) used in various behavioral diagrams, such as activity diagrams, sequence diagrams, and state machine diagrams. Part I. Structure defines auxiliary constructs (e.g., information flows, models, templates, primitive types) and the profiles used to customize UML for various domains, platforms, and methods.

   Although the chapters are organized in a logical manner and can be read sequentially, this is a reference specification and is intended to be read in a non-sequential manner. Consequently, extensive cross-references are provided to facilitate browsing and search.