Anticlue

What's a business rule?

Business Rules are coming of age. Based on the Zachman Framework, business rules are basically just that they capture the rules necessary to run a business.

The principles of the Business Rules Approach are:

• Separate the business rules so that it is only the business knowledge represented.
• Have a source the rule as well as the usages of that rule.
• Make the business rule explicit.
• Have the rules defined in a manner so that change is easier.

Why is this important, rules document the current state of the business, knowing the current state makes it easier to define the to be state and how to get there.

So what are the types of business rules?

• Constraints: Constraints specify the conditions information must (or must not) satisfy.
• Production rules: Production rules derive new information based on existing information.
• Event rules: Event rules specify what action should be taken when an event occurs (and a certain condition is satisfied).

What to learn more? Check out the Business Rule Community.