RETE: The Breakthrough Algorithm
Everyone in the business rules community and BRMS industry is familiar with Dr. Charles Forgy. His RETE algorithm has revolutionized how business rules are executed. In a nutshell, this algorithm enables high volumes of rules to execute fast. Granted, while some smaller products don’t use his algorithm, the vast majority of the market does. And we love him for that!
Forgy has since dedicated his life to perfecting the algorithm with continuous improvements on performance. By life, I mean his professional one. I had the chance to meet his lovely family, but his personal life is off topic for this post. When he came up with RETE III, I had the chance to participate in the Rules Power acquisition and contribute (from a vision perspective) in its integration with the product I was responsible for back then (Blaze Advisor).
Time has passed, but not his passion. With creativity and perseverance, Forgy has done it again! RETE-NT is his latest generation of the algorithm. As far as I know, he has figured out a way to burst through the performance limits we were facing in inference mode. How did he do it? Well, he would not say, of course… Trade secret… But this is definitely another major breakthrough for us all.
Thank you Charles for what your work and passion!
I had come up with another cute name for the algorithm, but I discovered that the name was already taken at my local home improvement store!
More Resources
You can learn more in my blog series:
- Part 1a: Origin of the Rete Algorithm
- Part 1b: Where did the name “Rete” come from?
- Part 2: How the Rete Algorithm Works
- Part 3: Evolution of the Rete Algorithm (more on Rete-NT)
Plus, you can learn more about Decision Management and Sparkling Logic’s SMARTS™ Data-Powered Decision Manager and how we’ve integrated the latest version on the algorithm.