Obviously, to solve a problem. But, what is that problem? Is it specific or general? Is the model to represent what has to go into a database or be manipulated by code now , or to simplify a complex domain in order to understand it? In the business...

IMHO, one of the best books on modeling never uses the words, "object-oriented" or "UML" or even "inheritance" (at least that I can remember). It was written by Gerald Weinberg and originally published in 1975. Just recently, the "Silver Anniversary Edition...

Another way to think about the title is semantics versus database/UML/... renderings. For me, "semantics" is not the structure or representation of data (property names, types, …) but the meanings, usages and conceptual hierarchies. An example is the...

I often find myself struggling to define what I do. "Solving world hunger" (in the "world" of common models and ontologies) - is one description, although it is a bit vague and altruistic. I had a much easier time of it when I was a programmer. Then,...