Sequence diagrams show the order of messages that are passed between elements of a system to complete a particular task or use case. The events that cross system boundaries are used by objects and people (actors) to complete their processes.
You can use custom shape libraries to store and share custom template diagrams, in addition to your favourite shapes, freehand sketches, and custom shapes. As you can also store icons, watermarks, images, parts of a diagram, and entire finished diagrams in custom shape libraries, they are an excellent way of sharing your custom templates with people outside your organisation.
UML class diagrams are used to illustrate the structure of a computer program. They detail the types of data or attributes stored within each 'class', the methods (operations or functions) that each class provides, and the relationships between the classes.
Marketing teams commonly use 5C situational analyses, simpler SWOT analyses, PEST and PESTLE analyses to examine and improve their products and services. By presenting the information visually, you won't get bogged down in unnecessary details.
The concept of state diagrams or state machine graphs has been around since the mid 1900s, long before David Harel modified them into the form used today as part of the UML standard.
UML use case diagrams show all of the ways an end-user interacts with your systems, with all of its pre- and post-conditions, exceptions and alternate paths. These diagrams are used to establish your system requirements, whether that be a software system or an interaction with another person or team.
Communication diagrams (formerly collaboration diagrams) show the messages that are passed in a system as an action is taken or an event occurs, and in what order they are sent. As a simplified sequence diagram, these show the information sharing relationships more clearly between different elements of a system.
Represent the three-dimensional molecular shape of a chemical by drawing a structural or skeletal formula in draw.io with the two new connector shapes in the Arrows shape library - the solid wedge and the dashed wedge.
UML activity diagrams show the sequence of actions and the flow of control in a system or a process. You can model the behaviour of physical and digital systems, as well as business process flows with activity diagrams.
Over on the home lab, home networking and smart home subreddits, it has been fantastic to see diagrams of increasingly complex home computing and network setups being shared. Diagrams help home you understand the physical and logical connections between networked devices, and are useful for setting up security zones, upgrading hardware and debugging connection problems.
UML package diagrams document the structure of grouped components in a system along with their dependencies, especially for multi-layered web and application architectures. Package diagrams fall in between the detailed class diagrams and the high-level more abstract profile diagrams and model diagrams.
Profile diagrams are one of the newer UML diagram types, providing a broad overview of a system showing how the system can be implemented in different domains. Stereotypes and constraints indicate which sub-systems and components, languages and processes are modified in different use cases.
Diagrams from text are oft faster for programmers to draw than to spend time manually styling and aligning the diagram elements. PlantUML support in draw.io is being phased out at the end of 2025, so here are some ways you can migrate your PlantUML diagrams to draw.io or rewrite them in Mermaid syntax.
BTP solution diagrams document your SAP Business Technology Platform architecture to show its services, environments, systems and interdependencies. Using the standard SAP icon set in your BTP solution diagram ensures that teams from various departments can understand your diagram immediately - from IT service managers and CTOs to SAP consultants and solution architects.
The new Network 2025 shape library in draw.io has extra styling options built in. When you enable the background colour, the shapes will have a bold long shadow. You can colour each part of these shapes individually - shape outline, shape fill colour (and neutral colour for internal details), background colour and gradient.
It's been a rather chaotic summer for all of us here at draw.io. Because it's a Thursday, to fit with the general craziness, here's a holiday-themed puzzle using one of the less-oft-used shape libraries. This library contains a large number of easy-to-recognise skilfully crafted classical hand-tooled signs, perfectly sitting at the bottom of your shape collection.
Timing diagrams are important for activities that need to be completed within a specific time frame. Such as the ringing of a doorbell after pressing a button, or a ticket gate opening after a ticket has been validated.
UML component diagrams are used to model the high-level software components and subsystems in service-oriented architectures and component-based development projects, and more importantly, define the interfaces between those components. As component diagrams provide a clear visual overview of a system, they are drawn early in a project as they are useful both to seek approval from stakeholders and to develop an implementation roadmap.
Interaction overview diagrams show a high-level overview of how components of the system interact with each other. General flowchart shapes show the interaction flow between activities, and sometimes entire sequence diagrams or activity diagrams are embedded for detailed documentation.
UML notation is one of the most popular technical diagramming standards defining a wide range of diagrams useful in many different industries and professions, not just software engineering. That many different technical diagrams can be daunting, so here is an overview of each of the different types of UML diagrams, who draws or reads them, and why they are useful.
Association classes in UML class diagrams 'hang' off the relationship between two other classes. Instead of leaving an unconnected end on your connector, add a waypoint shape between them and connect all three class shapes to the waypoint shape.
Venn diagrams are widely used in business, education and research to visualise commonalities and differences. Although, you have probably most often seen theme used in memes.
There are a wide range of UML diagramming tools available, as standalone applications, as online-only cloud software, and embedded in various content platforms. Some take text input to generate diagrams, and others are specialised to draw just one type of UML diagram.