IBM Rational Rose
| Company type | Software |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software development |
| Predecessor | Rational XDE |
| Founder | IBM Rational Software division |
| Fate | Discontinued, succeeded by Rational Software Architect and Rational Software Modeler |
| Successor | Rational Software Architect, Rational Software Modeler |
Area served | Software development industry |
| Products | UML modeling tools, roundtrip engineering features |
| Owner | IBM |
| Parent | IBM Rational Software |
Rational Rose served as a development platform tailored for Unified Modeling Language (UML), offering integration capabilities with Microsoft Visual Studio .NET and Rational Application Developer. It was developed by IBM's Rational Software division.
The Rational Rose suite included UML modeling utilities designed for software architecture, providing features such as source-based reverse engineering and diagram-driven source code generation, commonly referred to as roundtrip engineering. Comparable functionalities can be found in other UML tools like Borland Together and Fujaba.
This tool supported compatibility with older development environments and programming languages. To address contemporary software design needs, IBM introduced Rational Software Architect and Rational Software Modeler, which enhanced the Rose XDE toolset by incorporating support for UML 2.x standards, customizable design patterns, additional programming languages, SOA, and improved ER modeling capabilities.
In 2003, the Rational Rose product line was acknowledged as the leading solution in both market presence and promotional efforts within the UML tooling sector.
History
Following the Rational Product Release in June 2006, IBM phased out the “XDE” series and launched the Rational Rose lineup as its successor.
By approximately 2006, the UML functionalities originally offered by Rational Rose were overtaken by Rational Software Architect, positioning Rose as a legacy product. The ER modeling feature (Rational Rose Data Modeler) was eventually succeeded by Rational Data Architect.
Currently, IBM has discontinued sales of Rational Rose and has removed most mentions of it from its website, retaining only support documentation.