Rule engine

Rule Engine :

For any application the business rules change more frequently then the rest of the application code. Rule Engine or Inference Engines are the pluggable software components that seperate the business rules from the application code. This allows the business users to modify the rules frequently without the need of IT intervention and hence allowing the applications to be more adaptable with the dynamic rules.

In previous generation applications, data was meant to be dynamic which was supposed to be operated upon by the logic and rules to get the desired results. Data Dynamics are no longer the only need of the hour but the focus has been shifted to the dynamic rules.

Is it worth investing After spending huge amount on business systems as a result of everchanging rules, industry has started to realise the importance of rule engines and expert systems. The investment in rule engines not just leads to reduced turn around times but also reduces the IT intervention required for such business level changes.

Design Strategies There are multiple design strategies available for rule engines right from custom language based interpretive approach to XML based code generation approach.