Colleen McClintock

Twenty years after it first made waves, rule-based technology is making a comeback. Java developers with an eye on the e-commerce market are becoming aware of how integrating business rules and objects in Java can help expand Java into new niches within Web-based applications. This article discusses how rules fit with Java, the types of rule engines available and how a rule engine is used to execute rules for integration into a Java applet or application. Business rules are the fundamental policies and procedures that define or constrain a business, guiding how it functions. In modern businesses thousands of these policies and procedures are often embedded in application code, with "rule engines" ­ intelligent software components ­ frequently used as the fastest and most effective method to evaluate and execute business rules. Relying on rule engines is usually pre... (more)

Implementing Business Rules in Java

Part 1 of this series on business rule engines (see "Implementing Business Rules in Java," JDJ, Vol. 5, issue 5 [May 2000]) addressed the question of how to integrate the rule engine into a Java application. To review...business rules are the policies and procedures that describe or constrain the way an organization conducts business. Rule Engines Make Their Comeback Twenty years after it first made waves, rule-based technology is making a comeback. Java developers with an eye on the e-commerce market are becoming aware of how integrating business rules and objects in Java can hel... (more)