Thursday 21 August 2014

Completely Free Online Software Architecture Design Tools


Want to create an "architecture diagram" to explain our Software (libraries, Eclipse RCP, modules, features, etc.).
  1. What is the correct name for such diagrams?
  2. What is a good tool to create them? (Except Visio and Enterprise Architect )
ToolsFeatures
Cacoo.com With cacoo, you can
  • save your diagrams as public or private
  • send your diagrams to others
  • if you want, you can make your diagram editable, even without registering to cacoo.com
  • you can add any svg, png and more to cacoo
  • you can make you own stencil and sell it
  • and you can buy new stencils

Gliffy With Gliffy,you can
  • You have great ideas, but how do you bring them to reality? Gliffy helps you organize your thoughts.
  • Create professional diagrams quickly with our intuitive interface - there's virtually no learning curve when using Gliffy.
  • No need to buy expensive, OS-specific desktop software. Collaborate with anyone that has access to a web browser.

Lovelycharts Key features:
Ease of use
Super easy "Drag & Drop" Diagram creation
Automatic symbol switching
"Snappable" drawing grid
Standard drawing tools
Sexyness
Carefully crafted libraries (Flowcharts, sitemaps, people, network, wireframes, BPMN)
Import your own images
Automatic snapping in place
Alignment tools
Customizable connection styles
Efficiency
Web-based, no install
Share & collaborate (Premium only)
View diagram history (Premium only)
Attach comments
Export to JPG, PNG, PDF

Creately With creately,you can
  • 1-click create cuts down 5 actions in traditional diagram software to 1 click action.
  • That is 5 times faster drawing! Add the next shape and the line connecting it, with a single click and drag.
  • Smart shapes for UI Mockups, UML and more
    Connector types that match connected objects
    Real-time Collaboration, wherever you are

Freemind FreeMind is a premier free mind-mapping software written in Java. The recent development has hopefully turned it into high productivity tool. We are proud that the operation and navigation of FreeMind is faster than that of MindManager because of one-click "fold / unfold" and "follow link" operations.
So you want to write a completely new metaphysics? Why don't you use FreeMind? You have a tool at hand that remarkably resembles the tray slips of Robert Pirsig, described in his sequel to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance called Lila. Do you want to refactor your essays in a similar way you would refactor software? Or do you want to keep personal knowledge base, which is easy to manage? Why don't you try FreeMind? Do you want to prioritize, know where you are, where you've been and where you are heading, as Stephen Covey would advise you? Have you tried FreeMind to keep track of all the things that are needed for that?

Bouml Bouml features:-
  • it runs under Linux, MacOS X and Windows thanks to Qt
  • it allows to program simultaneously in C++, Java, Php, Python, IDL and MySQL
  • thanks to a full access to the generated forms, you are the master and you decide what must be generated
  • it is extensible, and the external tools (I name them plug-outs because they are executed outside BOUML) may be developed in C++ or Java, using BOUML for their definition as any other program.
  • it is very fast and doesn't require much memory to manage several thousands of classes, see benchmark
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sparxsystems
  • Comprehensive UML analysis and design tool.
  • Rich modeling for business, software and systems.
  • Full traceability from requirements to deployment.
  • Code engineering in over 10 languages.
  • Scalable, team-based repository.
  • Enterprise frameworks, mind maps, BPMN, more...

pencil
The Pencil add-on for Firefox is pretty good for simple diagrams and GUI sketches.
And if you don't like it as a FF add-on, you can download a standalone version for Linux or windows.

Visual Paradigm In modern software development, requirements capturing is not something you can finish at the outset of a project. Instead, new requirements constantly emerge while previously suggested requirements can change throughout the project. To meet the ever changing expectations, we need a way that can facilitate the continuous capturing and management of users' requirements. User stories is one of the approaches that has been widely adopted by many agile projects.
Written by users (or customer team), user stories describe functionality that are needed by and valuable to users. As an integral part of many agile development processes, user stories offers a quick way in recording users’ requirements without the need to write any detailed requirement documents, or to have any prior consideration of system behaviors.

 Websequence For sequence diagrams, only, try websequencediagrams.com. It's a freemium (free for the basic tasks, paid for advanced features) product, and lets you quickly bang out a diagram without any fussing around with lines and stencils.
Others
  • For modeling or drawing? (Drawing - ArgoUML, free implementations, and Visio)
  • Do you want to formalize your modeling through profiles or meta-models? OCL? (Sparx, RSM, Visual Paradigm)
  • Are you concerned about model portability, XMI support? (GenMyModel, Sparx, Visual Paradigm, Altova)
  • Would you want to generate code stubs or full functioning code?(GenMyModel, Visual Paradigm, Sparx, Altova)
  • If you're looking to get out the door and working on UML without having to learn a complex new tool I would check out Violet UML. I've used it to some pretty great success in the past.
  • PlantUML is an open-source markup-language-to-UML-diagram tool in Java that deserves to be mentioned here. It ranks high on the usability scale because of its intuitive syntax for the various diagrams and diagram components.
  • Dia is a possible choice. It's definitely not the best tool, but it is functional
  • Astah UML (ex-JUDE) is pretty good.
  • Finally  this list of UML tools on Wikipedia might also come in handy.

Framebox

Framebox is a great, free online tool for very simple wireframing. It includes a few drag and drop elements and allows you to share the web page as a unique URL. You can also give your elements titles and descriptions to help explain their function.
  1. Sketch frame using UI units
  2. Save it and get a link to created frame
  3. Send a link to your companion


FusionCharts Free

FusionCharts Free is a Flash charting component that can be used to render data-driven & animated charts for web applications and presentations. It is a cross-browser and cross-platform solution that can be used with ASP.NET, ASP, PHP, JSP, ColdFusion, Ruby on Rails, simple HTML pages or PowerPoint Presentations to deliver interactive and powerful flash charts.

Gliffy

Gliffy.com is a free web-based diagram editor. It enables you to create and share flowcharts, network diagrams, floorplans, user interface designs and other drawings online. Registration is required.
With Gliffy online diagram software, you can easily create professional-looking flowcharts, diagrams, floor plans, technical drawings, and more. Our online diagram editor makes it easier than ever to create great looking drawings.
Gliffy allows you to collaborate with other users by sharing your flowchart in a public workspace. Brainstorming sessions, marketing demos or just a clear plan on how to implement a hardware or software rollout in a large company become quick and easy — there’s no desktop client to install or site registration to think about.


amCharts

AmCharts is a set of Flash charts for your websites and Web-based products. AmCharts can extract data from simple CSV or XML files, or they can read dynamic data generated with PHP, .NET, Java, Ruby on Rails, Perl, ColdFusion, and many other programming languages.
amCharts offers a flexible and easily customizable solution for generating charts “on the fly”. There are 4 sets with predefined Pie & Donut, Line & Area, Column & Bar and Scatter & Bubble. Generated Flash-files are dynamic and can be presented in 2D or 3D. Some flash-charts also have animation effects.
amCharts is linkware which means that you have to place a link to the source if you’d like to use it for free. You can also purchase a single site license for 85 Euros (~$117). We’ve already reviewed amCharts.

amMap

The beginning of amCharts and amMap was in 2004, when the first version of amMap was made.
AmMap is a tool for creating interactive Flash maps. You can use this tool to show locations of your offices, routes of your journeys, create your distributor map, etc. Photos or illustrations can be used as layers and backgrounds of maps, so you can make different presentations, e-learning tools and more.
With amMap, you can:
  • customize every detail of your map – sizes, colors, disable features you don’t need;
  • create multi-level structures;
  • create map charts (heatmaps);
  • load icons or other custom movies or photos on top of your map;
  • use your own custom map textures;
  • draw lines and add text;
  • set the start-up zoom level and position;
  • use it as zoomifyer to display big pictures;
  • control the map with JavaScript (reload data and settings, set and get data and separate parameters, register clicks);
  • export the map as an image.
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AnyChart

AnyChart is a flexible Adobe Flash based solution that allows you to create interactive and great looking flash charts and dashboards. It is a cross-browser and cross-platform charting solution intended for everybody who deals with creation of dashboard, reporting, analytics, statistical, financial or any other data visualization solutions.
Attractive data visualization is an essential part of any service or application. Ubiquity and performance of Flash technology makes it, probably, the best solution for charting needs.
From individuals to Fortune 500 companies, we treat our customers with respect and give them all our attention and support. Many well known companies, government organizations, and educational institutions have selected AnyChart for their business needs. Here is a list of some names you may recognize: Oracle, Lockheed Martin, Halliburton, NXP Semiconductors, 3M and Rolex. AnyChart is an advanced Flash based data-visualization solution, allowing everyone to utilize power of animation and ultimate interactivity.
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Rich Chart Server for .NET

Rich Chart Server generates captivating dynamic Flash charts from ASP.NET and Windows Forms applications. Use the included authoring tool to visually design a rich chart template which can include stunning animation effects, audio narration, text and image elements, links and tooltips, and any other type of visual customization. Apply the chart template to any available .NET data source or XML document to generate an interactive Flash chart with drill-downs, enabling sophisticated data navigation between multiple charts.
Rich Chart Server uses flexible templates to integrate dynamic content from a variety of data sources:
Rich Chart Server can generate impressive charts from the included professionally designed Chart, Axes, Animations and Layout styles, examples:




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Flash Charts Pro

With Flash Charts Pro you can easily install attractive stats on your website and make detailed explanation of all scores that come from different digital sources onto your website or application, presenting it as animated diagrams. All you need to do is upload the core SWF files to the server/include them to your project and configure them via XML data files or you can streamline your data directly to Flash Charts Pro using your favorite scripting language. Flash Charts Pro is easy in use; you do not need to be an advanced programmer for using chart library. It requires no server-based software, there are 2 ways for making it work:
  • You can create a list with all your data and Flash Charts Pro will catch it and display in graphics;
  • The other way is that you can assign variables and stream all your data into the Flash Charts Pro, so that if data constantly changing all reflections you’ll see on your chart.
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Swiff Chart Generator

Swiff Chart Generator is the server-side solution to dynamically serve eye-catching animated charts from ASP.NET forms, PHP scripts or JSP scripts. Query data from a database, apply your own style template created with the Swiff Chart authoring tool and instantly generates high-impact charts in Adobe Flash format, PNG/JPG format, SVG format and PDF format.
Swiff Chart Generator runs in Microsoft IIS and Apache Web Server for both Windows and UNIX platforms. Swiff Chart Generator works with ASP.NET (C# and Visual Basic), ASP, PHP and JSP, giving you the possibility to access any data source and generate dynamic charts for your web site applications.
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Open Flash Chart

Open Flash Chart is a collection of Flash applets that you embed in your web page, and which fetch data from the web server to display. In both cases you get nice little refinements as well as animated pie charts, and with a little fiddling you can customise the way your graph appears by changing its colours, fonts and size. And Open Flash Chart is British, so you’re not only encouraging open source but British open source.
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pChart

pChart is a PHP class oriented framework designed to create aliased charts. Most of todays chart libraries have a cost, our project is intended to be free. Data can be retrieved from SQL queries, CSV files, or manually provided. This project is still under development and new features or fix are made every week.
The pChart charting library is providing many ways to reprensent a single or multiple series of data. We’ll try to add screenshots everytime an interesting functionnality is added to the pChart library.
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Origramy

Flash graph editor/viewer component. It can be used to create complex graphs presentations, save them and use the same component as graph viewer.
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ComponentArt

ComponentArt Charting blows away the competition in terms of overall features, rendering output and ease of use. On top of a great product, the support staff is responsive, knowledgeable and helpful in all areas. This product allowed us to design, develop and deploy a solution that is more usable, manageable and extendable than we thought was possible in zero-footprint chart.
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Dundas Chart for .NET

This award-winning component offers the most comprehensive features in the industry, the most complete sample framework, and the best live technical support available. From start to finish, our dedicated team will provide you with the technology you need to make your project successful.
Whether you are implementing charting into internal projects – or building data visualization applications for clients – Dundas Chart offers sophisticated visualization technology to get the most out of your data.
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XML/SWF Charts

PHP/SWF Charts offers a simple and dynamic solution for interactive Flash-based charts. Columns, circles, bars and pies can be displayed in 3D. You create an XML source to describe a chart, then pass it to this tool’s flash file to generate the chart. The XML source can be prepared manually, or generated dynamically using any scripting language (PHP, ASP, CFML, Perl, etc.).
The script requires only PHP 4 support; it is free, however all charts are by default linked to the source — unless you’ve purchased a license.
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JS Charts

JS Charts is a JavaScript chart generator that requires little or no coding. JS Charts allows you to easily create charts in different templates like bar charts, pie charts or simple line graphs.
The Commercial License cost 149$ allow you get everything inside the JS Charts free pack plus full support for 1 year.
The commercial license allows you to use this JavaScript charts generator legally on the websites that you own or develop under legal partnership with the owner.
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HOW TO BUY ,CREATE & HOST OR DEPLOY YOUR OWN WEBSITE

Introduction A website is a collection of Web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that is hosted on...