7 Best-Selling Rules Engine Books Millions Love

While working as a software architect, Malcolm Chisholm noticed a gap in practical guidance on building business rules engines that adapt easily to changing requirements. This book teaches you how to develop such an engine by focusing on metadata engineering, covering user requirements gathering, data modeling, and implementation strategies. You’ll find a continuous example application illustrating these concepts, alongside chapters designed to clarify the business justification and management considerations behind rule engine projects. If you’re involved in software development or systems design seeking to extend application functionality through modular, flexible rule processing, this book offers detailed insights without unnecessary jargon.

What keeps this book a frequent recommendation is its balanced approach to expert systems, combining solid theory with practical programming tools. Dr. Joseph C. Giarratano, leveraging extensive NASA research experience, walks you through foundational concepts of artificial intelligence and how they relate to rule-based systems. The later chapters introduce the CLIPS environment and its object-oriented COOL language, giving you hands-on exposure to building expert systems. Detailed problem sets at the end of each chapter reinforce critical skills, making it suitable for those seeking to deepen both understanding and application. If you're aiming to grasp both the why and how of expert system programming, this book delivers a clear path without unnecessary complexity.

This tailored book explores battle-tested methods for building flexible and maintainable rules engines, focusing on your unique background and goals. It examines core design principles and practical considerations that help you craft scalable rules engines adapted to your needs. By concentrating on your specific interests, it reveals how to create systems that remain robust and adaptable as business logic evolves. The content carefully balances proven concepts with personalized insights, guiding you through topics such as modular architecture, rule management, and system performance. This personalized approach accelerates your learning by matching expert knowledge with your particular challenges and objectives, ensuring a focused and rewarding experience.

After analyzing numerous real-world scenarios, Mauricio Salatino developed this guide to help Java developers harness the full potential of the Drools 6 rule engine. You learn how to write complex business rules using the DRL syntax, model decision tables and domain-specific languages, and integrate Drools with frameworks like Spring and Camel. The book also demystifies the PHREAK algorithm and covers advanced topics such as complex event processing and business process management with jBPM. If you are a Java developer or architect aiming to automate operational decisions within your applications, this book gives you the detailed tools and examples to move beyond basic rule implementation.

Lucas Amador's deep engagement with JBoss Drools since 2008 shapes this collection of over 40 practical recipes designed to strengthen your business rules implementations. You’ll learn to harness the full suite of Drools modules—including Guvnor for rules authoring, Fusion for complex event processing, and Planner for automated planning—while integrating these with popular Java frameworks like Spring and Apache Camel. The book walks you through configuring knowledge sessions, managing rule storage, and migrating to jBPM5, offering hands-on techniques that fit varied project needs. If you’re already comfortable with Drools basics and Java, this book will expand your toolkit and help you apply advanced features with clarity and precision.

Dr Andrew N Edmonds PhD leverages decades of expertise in artificial intelligence and fuzzy logic to demystify rule-based programming through DARL, a straightforward language designed for encoding uncertain knowledge. You learn not only the syntax of DARL but also how to develop and deploy rule sets integrated with modern technologies like Microsoft Azure's Logic Apps. The book offers practical chapters on machine learning applications within rule creation and innovative uses of the inference engine, such as intelligent form processing beyond typical survey tools. If you work with decision automation or expert systems and seek a hands-on but accessible guide, this book provides directly applicable skills without overwhelming complexity.

This personalized book offers a focused journey through mastering Drools, tailored specifically to your background and learning goals. It explores essential Drools concepts step-by-step over one month, covering rule authoring, decision tables, workflow integration, and session management. By concentrating on your interests and current knowledge, this tailored guide reveals how to effectively build, test, and deploy business rules with confidence. Combining widely validated insights with your specific objectives, it examines how to handle common challenges in Drools implementation and optimize rule execution. This approach ensures you gain practical skills and understanding aligned perfectly with your pace and priorities, making Drools expertise accessible and achievable.

Jewel H. Ward and colleagues challenge the conventional approach to data management by focusing on micro-services within the integrated Rule-Oriented Data System (iRODS). This workbook dives into the specifics of each micro-service, detailing input and output parameters alongside usage examples, enabling you to construct workflows that enforce your data policies reliably. If you work with distributed data requiring strict management and automation, especially in research or enterprise environments, this book equips you with the technical know-how to build and maintain robust data infrastructures. Chapters guide you through chaining micro-services into procedures that ensure policy compliance across remote storage systems.

After years working with Microsoft Excel's limitations, Paul Browne developed a guide that bridges Excel power users with advanced business rule engines and AI tools. You’ll learn how to integrate KIE, Drools, and Kogito with Microsoft 365 tools like Power Automate and Office Script to create scalable, cloud-based decision models. The book dives into graphical Decision Model Notation, linking rules to Excel workflows, and deploying solutions on Azure and OpenShift. If you’re an Excel-savvy business analyst or power user eager to move beyond spreadsheet constraints, this book provides concrete methods to capture and automate your business knowledge effectively.