JointJS, a powerful diagramming library, helps developers and companies of any size build advanced visual applications and No-Code/Low-Code tools. It provides a wealth of ready-made demos and a set of prebuilt features that make creating visual applications containing diagramming studios such as sequence diagrams a breeze.
We equip developers with all the features they need to save time and focus their energy elsewhere such as:
New to this topic? Learn more about sequence diagrams 👇
As stated above, sequence diagrams are interaction diagrams designed to visualize how operations are executed. They are time-focused using vertical lines that act as timelines carrying specific actions and messages. Messages are transmitted between vertical lines and represent the interaction between objects (which are in cooperation).
To understand how sequence diagrams work, let's add a step-by-step description of our demo above. The operation starts with an HTTP request sent from the browser to the web server. The web server, which requires some additional information, sends an SQL command to the database server and waits for a response. The database server sends the requested data back to the web server, which may eventually send an HTTP response back to the browser.
A visual representation of such an operation allows us to better understand the process, its participants, and the messages that are transmitted between them.
Let's take a look at some of the most common uses of sequence diagrams. Lucidchart has done a great job of explaining the three main use cases:
There are several key components of sequence diagrams that are worth mentioning at this point. We'll go over the basic ones, but if you'd like to dig deeper into this topic, you can learn more.
There is much more to learn about this special type of diagram. We recommend you check out this article from IBM, GeeksforGeeks or learn from other diagram experts in our community.
Modern development is not about building everything from scratch. The JointJS team equips you with plenty of ready-to-use demo apps that can serve as a boilerplate and radically reduce your development time. Visit our Github profile to get the source code of the sequence diagram demo and learn from other diagramming enthusiasts.