Software Developers: Sequence vs Collaboration Diagrams?

Page 1 of 1 [ 2 posts ] 

SplendidSnail
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Jul 2017
Age: 43
Gender: Male
Posts: 887
Location: Canada

02 Jul 2017, 2:20 pm

So I'm a Software Developer, and at work, it seems for the last year or so that people have been making less sequence diagrams and more collaboration diagrams. The collaboration diagrams, I am finding, take much more effort for me to understand than sequence diagrams.

For non-software developers out there, here's a sample sequence diagram:
http://wiki.ivoa.net/internal/IVOA/RWP0 ... uerySD.gif

And here's a sample collaboration diagram:
http://lanther.co.uk/monkeymap/CollaborationApplet.jpg

Since the sequence diagram is much closer to nice rows and columns than the collaboration diagram, and it allows me to focus on the detail of a particular step rather than being overwhelmed by the big picture as soon as I see it, I'm wondering whether my preference of sequence diagrams could be related to Asperger's.

Do other Aspie software developers also prefer sequence diagrams to collaboration diagrams? What do people think? Is it related to Asperger's?


_________________
Level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder / Asperger's Syndrome.


Chichikov
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 27 Mar 2016
Age: 50
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,151
Location: UK

04 Jul 2017, 2:27 pm

Never seen a collaboration diagram to be honest. I think they're different tools for different jobs. The sequence diagram is good for mapping out a single process, showing what order it goes through different systems\layers\responsibilities etc. Whereas the collaboration is more of a general UML thing. If you're thinking in terms of processes and their flow then sequence diagrams are probably easier to follow and make more sense, if you're more of a "big picture" type then maybe collaboration diagrams are better for you. It's hard to answer the specific question as put though given they can't really be compared.