This guest post was written by Don Babcock, lead programmer, Wake Forest University (WFU). Don will present a session at DIALOG 08 entitled “Agile and Dynamic Web-based Data Collection: A Case Study in Clinical Trial Data Management” (Tuesday Feb 26, 2:15 pm - 3:00 pm) in which he will discuss how BRMS technology allowed WFU to achieve unprecedented gains in productivity and reliability by truly separating presentation and business logic.

What is a “killer” application? I define it as something that fundamentally changes the way you do things. Most folks of my vintage regard “Visi-Calc” invented by Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston back in the late seventies as the first of the PC “killer apps.” It forever replaced ledger books with an electronic paradigm.

I’ve been around long enough to remember doing ALL my college papers using a typewriter and carbon paper. I’d have KILLED for a word processor! The advent of the word processing engines forever changed the way I wrote.

We used to write our own data structures. In the mid 80’s the popularization of SQL databases changed all that forever.

Of course, who can deny the significance of HTML and the browser given us by Tim Berners-Lee? The Internet itself goes way back if you trace its roots (well before Al Gore ever heard of it) but it didn’t become popular until the 90’s. That’s when the confluence of technologies and interests caused it to achieve critical mass.

For me, the Rules Engine is the latest “killer app” to emerge in my personal history. It truly fits the definition because I would now never dream of trying to build any application of significance without using one for the business “logic” of the application (even if merely for data validation) than I would consider writing anything of significance without using a word processor or a data application without a database. When you “get” it, you’ll never want to go back.

So why do so many programmers still do it the “hard” way? I truly believe that we are on the cusp of this technology achieving “critical mass” in the development community. But I’ll have to save that discussion for my talk at DIALOG 08 and the after blog.

-dB

Thanks for sharing, Don!

About Don Babcock
Don Babcock is an industry veteran with over 35 years experience building data management systems in industry segments, including aviation, banking, chemicals, clinical research, education, insurance, high energy physics research, manufacturing, process control, retail, robotics and utilities. He is a registered professional engineer in the field of electrical engineering. Babcock currently leads several major architectural initiatives involving state-of-the-art applications of rules engine/AI and XML technologies in the field of clinical research data management at WFU.