Fun with sequence diagrams

Steve Hanov’s Message Sequence Chart generator is awesome:†

Sending a parcel

Here’s the syntax that produced it:

Sender->Postal Service: send parcel
Postal Service->USPS: send parcel
USPS->Mailbox: delivery notice
Mailbox->Recipient: delivery notice
Recipient->Recipient: scrutinise
Recipient-->Mailbox: leave parcel
Mailbox-->USPS: leave parcel
USPS->USPS: evaluate
USPS->Mailbox: delivery notice
Mailbox->Recipient: delivery notice
note over Recipient: find time
Recipient-->USPS: pick-up
USPS->Recipient: hand off parcel
Recipient-->Sender: THX!

An API allows for embedding directly in web pages, or calling the service from the command line via Ruby, Python or Java. It can also be integrated with Trac and Confluence.

† Via Ben Buchanan