From a bestselling author and expert--a soon-to-be classic on application development Representing a significant change of focus in software engineering, the business rule approach to application development benefits all decision makers. Managers looking to take advantage of new opportunities will turn to business rules to implement change. IT has already learned the benefits of separating data by processing and managing data as an independent component of systems. A rules-extended development approach does exactly the same thing for business rules: by reducing the amount of code that needs to be written, it shortens the time necessary to implement change. Bestselling author Barbara von Halle (The Handbook of Relational Database Design from Addison Wesley) presents the first book to show in practical, real-world terms how to build applications using business rule concepts and techniques. This authoritative guide will give readers: o Complete guidance for system designers and database managers o The motivation for using the business rule approach o Techniques for discovering and managing rules o Guidance on how to conduct rule analysis o Steps for designing the implementation options of the rules, as well as designing workflow and database components "From a best selling author and expert-a soon-to-be classic on application development, representing a significant change of focus in software engineering, the business rule approach to application development benefits all decision makers." (Compbookreview.com, 11/01) A step-by-step tutorial on how to execute the business rules approach-from planning through implementation The business rules approach to application development represents a major evolution in software engineering and promises to be the most practical and desirable way to build systems. As a result, developers are in need of a how-to guide for implementing business rules in practice. Barbara von Halle fills this niche in the literature by providing a pragmatic introduction to the techniques and guidelines necessary for assembling systems using a business rules approach. Building on familiar methodologies such as structured systems analysis, information engineering, and object orientation, you will be able to easily add a business rules approach to existing practices. Offering you the steps and techniques to fit your specific needs, this innovative book discusses: * Business rule basics, concepts, and methodologies * Getting started on and planning a business rule project * Initial requirements, rules, and data * Analyzing data, rules, and processes to guarantee that they are all of high quality * Implementing business rules systems using commercial-service-oriented and data-change-oriented rules products * Introducing a Rule Track into a systems development methodology The companion Web site at www.wiley.com/compbooks/vonhalle/ includes: * White papers on related topics * Case study descriptions and vendor solutions * Updates on business rule concepts and tools * Links to other resources Wiley Computer Publishing Timely. Practical. Reliable. Visit our Web site at www.wiley.com/compbooks/ Visit the companion Web site at www.wiley.com/compbooks/vonhalle/ BARBARA VON HALLE is founder of Knowledge Partners Inc., a company that consults in data architecture and business rule services. She is a leading journalist in the business rule area, and she covered business rule concepts in a column in DBPD magazine for several years. She also contributed to The Data to Knowledge Newsletter, a publication dedicated to business rules.