Using Drools as an Integrated Business Rules Management System Solution

Introduction

A few claim that the reason software applications exist today is due to the rules of business. And, as business applications become more robust and sophisticated, consideration of how the program handles them is becoming more critical. Moreover, it usually translates into higher production costs, longer cycles, and more updates and deployments as market regulations become more complex. And, if the business rules of your system are built into the code, developers are required because they are the only ones that should be upgrading software.

Entering Drools

Drools is an integrated Business Logic Platform (BLiP)written in Java. It is an open-source project with support from JBoss and Red Hat, Inc. It extends and implements an algorithm corresponding to the Rete Pattern.

Drools is a set of tools that allow us to isolate the logic and data contained inside business processes and to explain why. Logic and Data are the two essential keywords we need to remember.

Drools is divided into two principal parts: Authoring and Runtime.

Authoring − Authoring method consists of developing Rules files (.DRL files). 

Runtime − Consists of building working memory and controlling activation.

Rule Engine

Drools is a Rule Engine that uses the rule-based approach to implement and the expert system. Expert Systems are information-based systems that use the representation of expertise to translate knowledge gained into a knowledge base that can be used for reasoning.

A Production Rule System is Turing complete with an emphasis on the representation of information to first-order logic in a descriptive, non-ambiguous, and declarative way.

The production rule system is an inference engine that can scale to a high number of rules and facts. The Inference Engine compares facts and data against Production Rules, also known as Productions or just Rules, to draw assumptions leading to practice.

A Production Rule is a two-part structure that uses the logic of the first order to reason on the representation of facts. A business rule engine is a software program that implements one or more business rules in an environment in which development runs.

Advantages of the Rule Engine

The following are the list of advantages of the rule engine. They are:

• Rules are written in less abstract language; a set of rules can be interpreted and reviewed easily by market analysts.
• Logic and data separation represents data resides in domain objects, and logic resides in rules, depending on the project structure.
• You can achieve more speed and scalability for your applications in drools with the advent of the rete algorithm.
• The knowledgebase is centralized to establish the truth of the business policies.
• It comes with many tools for easy use such as eclipse, tools for auditing, validation and debugging etc.

Tools Set to Drools 

Below are five device forms that are included in the Drools suite: 

1. Guvnor Drools: This is a single server for the KnowledgeBase Drools. 
2. Drools Flow: Offers business processes and workflows. 
3. Fusion drools: Tool used for dynamic analysis of events 
4. Expert Drools or Rules Engine: A useful tool for reasoning. 
5. Drools Planner: Automated planning offers that involve NP-hard planning problems.

Drools Essential Components

Here, words used in Drools are;

• Facts-Facts are the data that serves as the input for rules. 
• Working Memory-Storing with Data, where they are used to suit patterns. It can be changed, added, and removed.
• Knowledge Session-This part contains all the tools required for the rule of shooting. Both details are introduced into the single session here, and the relevant guidelines are then shot out. 
• Information Base-This represents knowledge in the environment of the Drools. 

Why Drools Are Considered

Drools are preferred because of the following reasons:

• Drools is open source.
• It provides forward and backward chaining of rules execution.
• It provides template base rule definitions.
• It is implemented using JSR-94.
• It has a decision table facility.
• Its rules are human-readable
• It is integrated with spring.

Rules Writing in Drools

The drools rules are described into three parts: namely package, import statement and rule definition, etc.

• Package: Here, every rule starts with a package name. The rule names within that package should be relevant and unique too. Moreover, packages in rules are similar to that of the java packages.
• Import statement: Whatever things you need to apply to the rules, you need to import them.
• Rule definition: Rule definition consists of rule name, condition, and consequences. The drools keywords are run, when, then, and end. Here when part is the condition, and then part is the consequence of it.

Sample Syntax Example for Rules Writing:

Package packagename

Import package name.filename;

rule “example”

when

  Declaration of the variables

then

   System.out.println();—used to print the output

end

Why Are Drools Rules Dynamic?

The solution governing the Drools rules is complex. While the engine is still filled with data, meaning rules can be added and removed at run time.

Rules can be generated on the fly and picked up by the application without needing a release and deployment. It can accelerate testing as business analysts can adjust the rules and re-execute tests without the development and downtime necessary.

Definitions of Rules are versatile. Attributes to be set include: 

• Priority-The rule’s importance of “patience.” 
• Period-How long does the rule last. 
• Activated-The rule’s activated condition. 
• Timers and Calendars-Timers with dates of start and end. 
• Activation Groups – Grouping such that, within the same group, only one rule can fire and cancel any current activation of other rules.

Why Use the Drools Rule Engine?

The following are the reasons to use it:

• To developers and industry analysts, the guidelines are easy to understand. 
• Laws are easy to follow. 
• Rule Engine uses a Rete algorithm that states that the engine ‘s output never depends on how many rules. 
• Rules may be updated and applied without the program being taken down.
• Outsources the logic of business from a comparatively static codebase. 
• Rules are developed in less complicated formats, so a group of rules can be read and checked easily by the business analyst. 
• Rules allow you to create an information warehouse that can be implemented in type. 
• Tools such as Eclipse help you navigate the rules, get an instant response, authentication, and support for content.

How business rules engine lowers cost?

If business processes are hard-coded in the program, developers need to make adjustments and then juggle the management, scheduling, and deployments of updates. However, if the creation of business rules does not work, the production and implementation process must be replicated all over again.

When a solution for the Drools decision table is applied correctly, the additional development, release, and delivery process will theoretically be bypassed. As the rules are written in a spreadsheet format, without the extra overhead, a business analyst who is familiar with spreadsheet software and features can design, implement, and test.

That supports an optimal separation of concerns. Decision tables by spreadsheets promote cooperation between experts in development and subject matter, as well as clarifying the market rules for business analysts.

Conclusion

For every business to operate in excellence, needs to follow proper rules to increase their output globally. In many organizations, even talented experts are facing several issues in implementing these rules for effectual business logic. However, a certified person can deliver most out of their skills. So wants to introduce a new business logic for the businesses, then drools certification course is must and should. It tells your true potential to deal with the facts. 

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