UML

Came across this article recently about Empirical Software Engineering.

My thoughts:
As a software developer I can certainly appreciate any discussion that looks to improve efficiency.  I would like to make a comment about UML.  UML forms an important part of object-oriented analysis and design.  I started programming in the early eighties, taught to rely on "structured techniques" as the design methodology of choice - data flow diagrams, data dictionaries and pseudo code pretty much covered it.  Eventually I progressed to Object Oriented Analysis and Design (OOAD) and Programming.  When I studied OOAD, OO programming and UML, it was like a new dawn for me.  Finally, a methodology that links requirements through to implementation - having spent some time testing during Y2K I comprehend the critical importance that requirements play in software development.  Unfortunately, in my time since learning OOAD I have encountered many developers that obviously do not comprehend this importance.  Graduates are still taught that they need to analyze requirements and design a solution but like so many, they soon get into the bad habit of writing the solution and not bothering with the initial analysis when a solution would be documented with tools such as UML.