A Comparison of (e)EPCs and UML 2 Activity Diagrams

: In this paper, Event Process Chains (EPCs) and activity diagrams (ADs) of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) are compared with respect to (1) their syntax and its expressiveness, (2) their semantic domains and problems, and (3) their pragmatics and application conditions. The comparison is based on industrial experience and a survey of the research literature. Our conclusion is that while earlier versions of the UML did not provide sufficient means for modeling of business processes, the current version does. Since UML provides additional benefits over EPCs when it comes to software development as a consequence of business process modeling, we predict that for these applications, UML ADs will prevail over EPCs.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: EPK
• Authors: Harald Störrle
• Keywords: Business Process Modeling, EPK 2006, EPK 2007, Event Process Chains, Unified Modeling Language