Title: Comparative study between MERISE and UML as tools for analyzing and designing information systems.
Authors: Charles KAKUNGA LUSHIMBA, Trésor BANANTAMBA KALUNDE
Volume: 9
Issue: 10
Pages: 27-39
Publication Date: 2025/10/28
Abstract:
This scientific work explains a comparative study between MERISE and UML, which are two modeling tools used in the design of information systems. MERISE is a classic French method, which is distinguished by a structured approach in three levels (conceptual, logical, physical) and a clear separation between data and processing. It is especially suited to management systems and relational databases. Meanwhile, UML (Unified Modeling Language) is an object-oriented modeling language, generally adopted internationally. It allows to represent both the structure and the behavior of systems using many types of diagrams (use cases, classes, sequence, etc.), thus offering great flexibility. The comparison highlights that MERISE remains imperatively crucial in traditional contexts where design and data modeling are priorities, while UML presents itself as a modern tool, suitable for large-scale, complex, object-oriented projects and software development. The choice between the two depends mainly on the type of project, the design objectives and the skills of the team. On this, we dare to believe that in certain cases, a concatenation of the two approaches may be desirable, allowing to exploit the complementary capabilities of MERISE and UML.