Jess in Action: Rule-Based Systems in Java

Chapter 9. Collecting the knowledge

In this chapter you’ll...

• Learn about knowledge engineering
• Learn to interview experts
• Collect requirements
• Assemble domain knowledge

A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.

Lao Tzu

The first step in developing any rule-based system is collecting the knowledge the system will embody. In this chapter, your major concern will be to learn how this can be accomplished. As a practical example, you’ll gather the knowledge you’ll build into your first nontrivial rule-based program.

9.1. The Tax Forms Advisor

For the next three chapters, you’ll be developing a simple rule-based application that recommends United States income tax forms. The application asks the user a series of questions and, ...