[rules-users] Expert Systems and Functional programming?

[Grant Rettke]

On Thu, Mar 7, 2013 at 2:44 PM, Matteo Mortari <matteo.mortari at gmail.com> wrote:
> The Question I'm asking myself: is there a specific, or few, areas where
> Functional Programming could actually benefit Expert Systems so much to
> actually spawn new paradigms of writing Rules? Or benefit in a new
> generation of the Rete algorithm?
> Or actually, Functional Programming will spawn a completely different
> paradigm of system which will go beyond Expert Systems the way are designed
> today?

Great question, very inspiring just to think of the possibilities. The
biggest opportunity out there right now is for rules-engines to help
bridge the artificial gap that exists between the so called
fundamental models of computation for the different camps. For
example, Java is a Turing style sequential language and Lisp is a
Church style functional language. This shoe-horning of languages into
different camps is arbitrary, boring, mentally restrictive, totally
artificial, and offers little more benefits than easily separating
books on a bookshelf at the bookstore. It is really, really sad to see
the quelling of creativity and reduction of the beautiful parts of
different computational models reduced into tiny, little, lonely camps
that must live in isolation. Digging into rules engines is a pathway,
albeit deeply unpopular, into another important form computational
expression that never really got it's day in the sun like the biggies
today. New and interesting things will benefit all camps when they dig
into the world of production systems and welcome it as a first class
citizen to their programming toolbox. Would it result in new and great
things? Who knows :).