Andreas Wiebe

Contents

• Diagramming Tools
  • PlantUML
  • Visio
  • Lucidchart
  • ConceptDraw
  • Diagrams.net
  • Mermaid.js
• Documentation Tools
  • VS Code
  • Confluence
  • Github

Diagramming Tools

PlantUML

• Opensource (https://plantuml.com/ )
• UML drawing using a simple markup language, it's real strength comes from integrations and support in other tools such as VSCode and Confluence. Note that it requires GraphViz to be installed for many of the diagram styles.
• Personal favorite for the ability to do documentation as code.

Visio

• Commercial Software (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/visio/flowchart-software)
• Point-and-Click / Drag-and-Drop diagramming
• Well polished, user experience is similar to other MS Office applications

Lucidchart

• Commercial Software (https://www.lucidchart.com/)
• Point-and-Click / Drag-and-Drop diagramming
• Integrations with other tools like Confluence (embedded diagrams)

ConceptDraw

• Commercial Software (https://conceptdraw.com)
• MacOS and Windows only
• Well polished, user experience is similar to MS Office applications

Diagrams.net

• Opensource (https://www.diagrams.net/)
• Browser based
  • Apache Licensed desktop app is available (https://get.diagrams.net/)
• Point-and-Click / Drag-and-Drop diagramming
• Integrations with other tools like Confluence (embedded diagrams)
• Very powerful when sharing diagrams as no installation is required

Mermaid.js

• Open source (https://mermaid-js.github.io/mermaid/#/)
• Diagramming using a simple markup language for documentation as code.
• Integrations exist for a variety of code-editors and CMS platforms.
• Supports a variety of diagrams, including flowcharts, sequence diagrams, class diagrams, etc.
• Has gained a lot of steam over the last few years, this will replace PlantUML for me over the next year.

Documentation Tools

VS Code

• Free (https://code.visualstudio.com/Download)
• Primarily a code editor, however, it has many plugins for working with markdown and markup languages and integrates well with git, making it well suited for writing and maintaining documentation as code.

Confluence

• Commercial (https://confluence.atlassian.com)
• Wiki software with close integrations to Jira
• Not one of my favorites but it's used in most large businesses

Github

• Commercial (https://github.com/)
• I'm including Github in Documentation Tools because it can be an incredible document repository if the team takes the time to learn git source control. Used in conjunction with markdown languages and publishing tools/integrations, git can be incredibly useful for versioning control.