Software Engineering with DGML

 

DGML brings a new vista to software engineering because it frees the developer from the constraints of tools such as Visio, Word, UML tools etc. Not only the constraints, but these tools are used for documentation purposes after the fact (which is development). Yes, even, and mostly, UML.

Why is DGML is so strong for quickly sketching requirements, specifications, low- and high-level design elements and even implementation details?

Answer: it is supported by a tool, namely Visual Studio.

Otherwise, other graph languages exist and the venerable GraphViz is better than DGML in its layout richness; but the new vista that DGML brings is interactivity and real-time scalability; you can have just one document where you accumulate 37 requirements, 263 specifications and 1,456 design ideas (all categorized and prioritized) and you can still travel in it with ease and find whatever you want. Try that with a 400-page Word document.

Why a graph language? Because people have been creating wonders with a language that supported lists as its sole data structure; a list is a directed graph; so the same can be done with a graph language.