Programming with the Microsoft Business Rules Framework

usiness Rules are pervasive in software. In fact, in most cases, business rules are the very reason for the existence of most software today. As application architectures become more and more sophisticated, few can disagree with the merits of separating the presentation layer from the business layer or the data layer from the business layer. Yet many applications today are still built with process logic and business rules interwoven within the same business/application layer, which can lead to applications that are brittle, hard to maintain, and resistant to change. In this article, I will explain how to decouple the business rules within your application in a manner that yields high organizational visibility and accountability, and promotes rules as a unit of reuse to help you build applications that are ready for change.

A Little Background
When Rod Paddock and I first started talking about ideas for this article, my goal was to share some of the techniques I have successfully implemented for exposing the Microsoft Business Rules Engine (BRE) via services. Always the wise pragmatist, Rod suggested that I first start with an introduction. If my experience delivering two talks on the subject this year at Austin Code Camp and Desert Code Camp in Phoenix are any indication, he’s probably right. Both sessions were well attended, and most attendees had heard of rule-based engines, but had not taken it much further. This intrigues me, because there is a growing developer community that really understands the benefits of dependency injection, inversion of control, and contract-first development. I think that anyone interested in such techniques should look closer at rule-based engine technology because it is a way to accomplish or, at the very least, compliment many of these techniques. So, while my initial goal of going deeper with the technology will have to wait, I hope that you will discover how valuable (and cost effective) incorporating a rule-based engine into your solution architecture and design can be.