Principles of the Business Rule Approach
by Ronald G. Ross
The Business Rule Approach represents a major paradigm shift in business-system design and development. Employing a business-driven approach, the use of business rules has been proven to enhance the effectiveness, flexibility, and efficiency of business systems. The technology is appropriate for any kind of organization, and is especially well suited for
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The Business Rule Approach represents a major paradigm shift in business-system design and development. Employing a business-driven approach, the use of business rules has been proven to enhance the effectiveness, flexibility, and efficiency of business systems. The technology is appropriate for any kind of organization, and is especially well suited for development in the rapidly expanding Web services industry.
Written by the world's leading expert in business rules theory and technology, Principles of the Business Rule Approach is appropriate for business and technical professionals, as well as academics. It serves as a concise introduction and tutorial, presenting understandable explanations and practical techniques.
This book explores the rationale behind business rules, as well as the many opportunities presented by this innovative new approach. It explains key business-rule concepts and offers experience-based best practices for expressing business rules. In addition, the book looks at the role of business rules within the context of a wider trend towards model-based development and offers an accessible introduction to the underlying theory of business rules and notation.
Topics covered include
- How the Business Rule Approach is changing the face of business and opening new areas of opportunity
- The direct impact of business rules on IT projects
- Organizing basic business knowledge
- Understanding business structure and processes
- Working successfully with BRS RuleSpeak,TM including rule categories and sentence patterns for rule statements
- Expressing business logic using decision tables
- An in-depth look at fact models
- Theoretical foundations, including formal constraints and predicates
Numerous appendixes address specific topics in business rule technology, such as the Pattern-R approach and notation, evaluating the truth value of a rule, IF...THEN syntax, and more.
Knowledge of the emerging Business Rule Approach is critical for all who are at the leading edge of business system development. Principles of the Business Rule Approach is the authoritative guide and an essential resource.
0201788934B01132003
Product Details
- ISBN-13:
- 9780201788938
- Publisher:
- Addison-Wesley
- Publication date:
- 02/28/2003
- Series:
- Addison-Wesley Information Technology Series
- Edition description:
- New Edition
- Pages:
- 372
- Sales rank:
- 1,121,364
- Product dimensions:
- 7.32(w) x 9.21(h) x 1.02(d)
Table of Contents
Preface.
I. THE BUSINESS PROBLEM: WHY BUSINESS RULES?: READINGS FOR BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS.
Overview.
1. What's This about Business Rules?: The Problem and the Fix in a Nutshell.
A Telltale E-Mail Trail.
The Case for Business Rules.
When Is a Door Not a Door?
The Business Rule Difference.
2. Areas of Opportunity: Changing the Face of Business.
Where Does the Business Rule Approach Apply?
The “Re's” of Business Rules.
Let's Make a Deal.
A Killer App for Business Rules.
Reempowerment for the Company's Provisioning Processes.
There's a Lot More to Reference Data Than Just Data!
Business Rules as Customer Interface.
New Ways to Link Up.
What about Web-Based Commerce?
Harnessing the Dynamics of an Open Rule Marketplace.
3. Serving Up Knowledge: The Need to Know.
What Is Knowledge Management?
And What Does It Have to Do with Business Rules?
Personalized, Never-Ending, On-the-Job Training.
Knowledge Companions for 21st-Century Line Workers.
4. What about IT Projects?: Where the Rubber Meets the Road.
If We Had Already Started Coding….
Meeting Those Project Deadlines.
Two Things Wrong with Traditional Business Systems Development.
Yes, There Is a Better Way!
What Business-Driven Really Means.
Getting to the Right Mind-Set.
More on What Business-Driven Really Means.
The Business Model.
The Policy Charter.
A Small-Sized Big Picture.
The True Business Analyst.
The Go-To Guy for 21st-Century Business Systems.
II. BUSINESS RULE CONCEPTS: THE MECHANICS OF BUSINESS SYSTEMS.
Overview.
The Marvelous Organism.
A New View of Business Systems.
5. Organizing Basic Business Knowledge: What You Need to Know about Terms and Facts.
Terms and Facts.
About Terms.
About Facts.
Using Graphic Fact Models.
The Fact Model and Behavior.
6. Exercising Control: What You Need to Know about Rules.
Rules for Control.
Rules and Events.
About Violations of Rules.
Implications of Rules Playing the Central Role.
Ways in Which Rules Can Exercise Control: Functional Categories of Rules.
Rejectors.
Producers.
Projectors.
Expanding the Coverage of Rules.
Suggestions and Guidelines.
Handling Exceptions.
Rules and Guidance in the Business Rule Approach.
7. Doing Work: What You Need to Know about Processes.
Challenges Facing Businesses Today.
Putting Business Rules to Work.
Building on What You Know.
Basing Procedures on Terms and Facts.
Basing Procedures on Rule Independence.
Including People in Scripts.
Implications for the Business Side.
Back to Training.
Building on What You Already Know How to Do.
Normal Reuse of Scripts.
Abnormal Reuse of Scripts.
III. BEST PRACTICES FOR EXPRESSING RULES: BRS RULESPEAK.
Overview.
8. Expressing Rules: The Dos and Don'ts.
Not How, Not Where, Not Who, Not When.
Not Procedural.
Not Inscrutable.
Not Impossible.
Always Built on Terms and Facts.
No AWOL Facts.
No Fluff.
No Plural Subjects.
Careful about Iffy Starts.
No AWOL Subjects.
Careful about Actors as Subjects.
No Commands.
No CRUD.
Careful about Events as Subjects.
Careful to Qualify
Careful to Extract Embedded Computations.
Careful to Isolate Your Logic.
And No Etc..
9. Developing Rule Statements: The Basics of BRS RuleSpeak.
About the Rule Sentence Templates.
Success Factors in Using the Templates.
Fundamental Concepts.
Every Rule Has a Functional Category.
Every Rule Should Have a Subject.
Every Rule Should Use a Rule Word.
Every Rejector Has a Flip Side.
Every Permission Statement Should Use a Permission Word.
Any Rule Can Be Qualified.
Any Rule Can Include a Time Bracket.
Any Rule Can Reference a Value.
Basic Usage Notes.
Using Shall.
Using Should.
Using May.
Using No.
Using Not…Not.
Using Or and And.
Special Usage Notes.
Using Rule Types in RuleSpeak.
Using A, Some, and Each.
Using Strictly ANDed and ORed Conditions.
10. Functional Categories of Rules: The BRS Rule Classification Scheme.
11. Sentence Patterns for Rule Statements: The RuleSpeak Templates.
The Basic RuleSpeak Templates at a Glance.
12. Expressing Business Logic by Using Decision Tables: The RuleSpeak Approach.
When Decision Tables Should Be Used.
Decision Tables Involving One Evaluation Term.
Decision Tables Involving Two Evaluation Terms.
Decision Tables Involving Three or More Simple Evaluation Terms.
Decision Tables Involving More Complex Sets of Decision Criteria.
Appropriate Outcomes for Decision Tables by Functional Category of Rule.
IV. WHAT IS THE BUSINESS RULE APPROACH?: READINGS FOR IT PROFESSIONALS.
Overview.
13. More Principles of the Business Rule Approach: A New View of Business Logic.
The Basic Principles of Rule Management.
Databasing Your Rules.
What Is a Business Rule?
Separating the “Know” from the “Flow”.
Business Rules and the “Flow”.
Correcting Some Misconceptions about Business Rules.
Business Rules and the “Know”.
Rules for Processes and Rules for Products/Services.
Why Business Rule Methodology Is Different.
What It Means to Mean Business.
Analysis Paralysis.
Preventing the Disease Behind the Symptoms.
14. More about Fact Models: Structuring the Basic Business Knowledge.
Critical Success Factors for Fact Models.
Organizing the Basic “Know” Part.
Doing the Data Model Right for Business Rules.
Using Rules to Reduce the Impact of Change.
V. A THEORY OF BUSINESS RULES: A TUTORIAL ON THE FORMAL BASIS FOR BUSINESS RULES AND BUSINESS RULE NOTATION.
Overview.
15. Three Perspectives on Business Rules: A Framework for Formal @AHEADS = Discussion.
The Three Perspectives.
A Word about Terms.
A Word about Types.
Special Terminology.
16. The Theoretical Foundation of Rules: About Formal Constraints.
The Formal Definition of Rule.
More on Terms.
Terminology: Instances and Classes, Values and Variables.
Rule Notation.
Constraints: Rejection versus Inference.
17. The Theoretical Foundation of Facts: About Predicates.
Predicates and Facts.
Predicate at the Business Manager's Perspective.
Predicate at the System Developer's Perspective.
Predicate at the Technical Designer's Perspective.
Facts: Type versus Instance.
The Existence Principle.
A Brief Introduction to R-Notation for Facts.
Inferencing and Deduction Revisited: Using Predicates.
18. Higher-Order Rules: Pattern-R Rule Types.
The Definition of Pattern-R Rule Types.
Examples of Pattern-R Rules.
Example 1: The Monitor Rule.
Example 2: The Union Rule.
The Assembly of Pattern-R Rule Types.
Part 1: The Yield-Value Function.
Part 2: The Truth-Valued Function.
Assembly of Example 1: The Monitor Rule.
Assembly of Example 2: The Union Rule.
Appendices for Part V.
Appendix A. Evaluating the Truth Value of a Rule.
Appendix B. Terms at the Technical Designer's View.
Appendix C. The Fundamental Kinds of Rules.
Appendix D. About the IF…THEN…Syntax.
Appendix E. Halpin's Definitions for Fact and Related Terms.
Appendix F. Semantics in the Relational Model.
Appendix G. Basic Operators and Higher-Order Rule Types.
Appendix H. Formalization of the Pattern-R Approach.
Appendix I. What Does Declarative Mean?
Appendix J. The “Mary” Inferencing Example Step-by-Step.
Appendix K. More on R-Notation for Facts.
Appendix L. Special Built-In Fact Types in R-Notation.
Glossary.
Bibliography
Index. 0201788934T01212003
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