Using sequence diagrams to document Web elements´ unknown behavior

Software engineers depend on analysis and design methods that take into consideration user´s requirements and computing resources on the processing site. With many new network applications being developed based on web browser user interfaces, software engineers have become more dependent on knowledge of network operations. Web caching is an existing mechanism that seeks to improve user´s response time, but their existence and functionality are usually transparent to those not directly working with the network infrastructure. In this paper, a new method that uses UML sequence diagrams to perform requirements analysis on web applications is proposed, whereby the web application is designed in such a way to avoid the actions taken by hidden resources, such as web caches, becoming, then, independent of the uncertainty of the caching mechanisms for dynamic contents.