After posted the UML and data flow diagrams previously, this time we have a collection of activity diagrams that you can save for free. Activity diagram is another important diagram in UML to describe dynamic aspects of the system. Activity diagram is basically a flow chart to represent the flow from one activity to another activity. The activity can be described as an operation of the system. So the control flow is drawn from one operation to another. This flow can be sequential, branched or concurrent. Activity diagrams deals with all type of flow control by using different elements like fork, join etc. Look at the first diagram posted below.
The activity diagram above is an example of process order diagram. The basic purposes of activity diagrams are similar to other UML diagrams. It captures the dynamic behaviour of the system. Other four diagrams are used to show the message flow from one object to another but activity diagram is used to show message flow from one activity to another. It is not only used for visualizing dynamic nature of a system but they are also used to construct the executable system by using forward and reverse engineering techniques. The only missing thing in activity diagram is the message part.
An activity diagram does not show any message flow from one activity to another. Activity diagram is some time considered as the flow chart. Although the diagrams looks like a flow chart but it is not. It shows different flow like parallel, branched, concurrent and single. It can also be developed in various degrees of detail. They can be refined step by step. In the external view, activity diagrams, just like use case diagrams, exclusively represent business processes and activities from the outside perspective.
