Using UML for C programming

Question

I'm developing an embedded software based on standard specification. The software is big and I need a design of my software before start coding. the UML is an object-oriented language and could be a solution but I don't know how to use it for C softwares.

are there any document which help to use UML for C programming ? or are there another design language for c softwares ?

Answer 1

Yes, you can, mostly because of two reasons:

• You can actually do Object Oriented Programming with C (although it is tedious and not completely advisable), there a few books on the subject that you can read.
• You can still use class diagrams to model data structures and static methods. But UML is not just about class diagrams: you also have state diagrams, interaction diagrams, use case diagrams... And they are useful for structured programming too.

Answer 2

Well we use Enterprise Architect to model our embedded software although we stop short of generating the code. EA can generate C code as well although we use C++ code because it feels more natural combined with UML. You can try it out and see if it fits your needs, it is not unforgivingly expensive either. It can also reverse engineer your C code so that may be a help.