Question

What are the best modeling languages to know. What are the most important things to know about the modeling languages. Espically BPMN as it seems like an interesting topic.

Answer 1

I think BPMN may have some use in companies that have very formal approach to writing specifications, the same kind that would use UML for describing every aspect of simple cancel button. Majority of developers heard only of UML and even that is not really well understood, nor employed extensively in practice.

As usual, the really important questions you want to ask are:

• What do you want to model?
• Who are you writing this for?

If you are doing this for yourself, you may just as well use your own notation made up ad hoc. It will be faster than going through pages of spec written by experts from OMG (Object Management Group, though Oh My God is not a bad explanation either ;-)).

If you need to share the doc with others, UML seems like a good choice. It is sort of understood by the community and all ambiguity you can always rewrite in plain English.

If your client requires BPMN, then well — read on it and learn it well. Maybe hire consultants to verify if you are doing it right. If you are not required by contract to use it, then — for Gods sake — go write code and document it well and not spend too much time pondering which modeling thingy is most hip now. None isn’t and none will be any time soon.