Astah, formerly known as JUDE (Java and UML Developers' Environment, pronounced), is a UML modeling tool created by Japanese company Change Vision. JUDE received the "Software Product Of The Year 2006" prize, established by Information-Technology Promotion Agency in Japan.[1]
The Community edition (formerly known as edition for prior to version 1.4) is free to use and offers the following functionality:[2]
JUDE/Professional is the product version of JUDE with all the features of JUDE/Community plus enhancements. It has features such as input-output and diagram creation guidance. It is suitable for business use, large-sized models, and document creation.[3] A 20-day free trial is available by obtaining an Evaluation License.
JUDE/Professional began to support the part of diagrams' expressions of UML2.0 from version 3.0.
JUDE/Professional supports also ER diagram from version 3.2.
JUDE development was started by Kenji Hiranabe, CEO of Change Vision, Inc., in 1996.
JUDE was provided as a free software in 1999. Five years later JUDE started selling in the Japanese market. This decision came about because some UML modeling tools existed overseas but they were a bit high priced; and the company would get feedback from Japanese users and could evolve more if JUDE was released on the market.[4]
The number of JUDE users was 120,000 as of October 30, 2006. In September 2009, JUDE was renamed to Astah after receiving concerns from German users who pointed out the product name was similar to the German word Jude, which refers to a male Jew.[5]