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Apache Flink VS Drools

Compare Apache Flink VS Drools and see what are their differences

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Apache Flink logo Apache Flink

Flink is a streaming dataflow engine that provides data distribution, communication, and fault tolerance for distributed computations.

Drools logo Drools

Drools introduces the Business Logic integration Platform which provides a unified and integrated platform for Rules, Workflow and Event Processing.
  • Apache Flink Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-03
  • Drools Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-16

Apache Flink features and specs

  • Real-time Stream Processing
    Apache Flink is designed for real-time data streaming, offering low-latency processing capabilities that are essential for applications requiring immediate data insights.
  • Event Time Processing
    Flink supports event time processing, which allows it to handle out-of-order events effectively and provide accurate results based on the time events actually occurred rather than when they were processed.
  • State Management
    Flink provides robust state management features, making it easier to maintain and query state across distributed nodes, which is crucial for managing long-running applications.
  • Fault Tolerance
    The framework includes built-in mechanisms for fault tolerance, such as consistent checkpoints and savepoints, ensuring high reliability and data consistency even in the case of failures.
  • Scalability
    Apache Flink is highly scalable, capable of handling both batch and stream processing workloads across a distributed cluster, making it suitable for large-scale data processing tasks.
  • Rich Ecosystem
    Flink has a rich set of APIs and integrations with other big data tools, such as Apache Kafka, Apache Hadoop, and Apache Cassandra, enhancing its versatility and ease of integration into existing data pipelines.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Flink

  • Complexity
    Flink’s advanced features and capabilities come with a steep learning curve, making it more challenging to set up and use compared to simpler stream processing frameworks.
  • Resource Intensive
    The framework can be resource-intensive, requiring substantial memory and CPU resources for optimal performance, which might be a concern for smaller setups or cost-sensitive environments.
  • Community Support
    While growing, the community around Apache Flink is not as large or mature as some other big data frameworks like Apache Spark, potentially limiting the availability of community-contributed resources and support.
  • Ecosystem Maturity
    Despite its integrations, the Flink ecosystem is still maturing, and certain tools and plugins may not be as developed or stable as those available for more established frameworks.
  • Operational Overhead
    Running and maintaining a Flink cluster can involve significant operational overhead, including monitoring, scaling, and troubleshooting, which might require a dedicated team or additional expertise.

Drools features and specs

  • Declarative Programming Model
    Drools uses a rule-based approach, allowing you to specify what the desired outcome is rather than detailing the control flow to achieve it. This can simplify complex decision-making logic and make the codebase easier to understand and maintain.
  • Separation of Business Logic
    It separates business rules from application code, which makes the rules easier to modify, understand, and manage without needing to redeploy the entire application.
  • Flexibility and Adaptability
    Drools allows for real-time decision-making changes. Business users can adjust the rules dynamically based on changing requirements, increasing the system's responsiveness to business needs.
  • Integration with Java
    As a Java-based rules engine, Drools integrates seamlessly with Java applications, making it a versatile choice for Java developers.
  • Comprehensive Toolkit
    Drools provides a rich set of features including a web-based interface for authoring and managing rules, decision tables, a rules repository, and more, providing a comprehensive toolkit for rule management.

Possible disadvantages of Drools

  • Complexity
    The learning curve for Drools can be steep for beginners or those unfamiliar with rule-based systems. It requires a good understanding of both the Drools framework and rule-based logic.
  • Performance Overhead
    In some scenarios, especially with a large number of complex rules, performance issues may arise. Fine-tuning and optimization may be necessary to ensure acceptable performance levels.
  • Debugging and Testing
    Debugging and testing rules can be challenging because the flow of control is not explicitly defined in the code. Specialized testing strategies and tools may be required to ensure rule correctness.
  • Dependency Management
    Drools, being a Java library with many dependencies, can add complexity to project setup and dependency management, especially in large projects.
  • Limited Support for Non-Java Environments
    Drools is primarily designed for Java environments, which can limit its applicability in projects using other languages. Integration with non-Java environments can be cumbersome.

Analysis of Apache Flink

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Apache Flink is considered a good distributed stream processing framework.

Why this product is good

  • Rich api
    Flink offers a rich set of APIs for various levels of abstraction, catering to different needs of developers.
  • Scalability
    Flink provides excellent horizontal scalability, making it suitable for handling large data streams and high-throughput applications.
  • Fault tolerance
    Flink's checkpointing mechanism ensures fault-tolerance, maintaining data state consistency even after failures.
  • Ease of integration
    Flink integrates well with other big data tools and ecosystems, facilitating broader data architecture designs.
  • Real-time processing
    It excels at processing data in real-time, allowing for immediate insights and action on streaming data.
  • Community and support
    Being a part of the Apache Software Foundation, Flink benefits from a large community and comprehensive documentation.
  • Complex event processing
    It supports complex event processing, which is essential for many real-time applications.

Recommended for

  • real-time analytics
  • stream data processing
  • complex event processing
  • machine learning in streaming applications
  • applications requiring high-throughput and low-latency processing
  • companies looking for robust fault-tolerance in distributed systems

Analysis of Drools

Overall verdict

  • Drools is a good choice for projects that require advanced rule processing capabilities, especially when dealing with complex interdependencies among rules. It offers a high level of configurability and is well-suited for enterprise applications that demand precision in decision automation.

Why this product is good

  • Drools is a powerful business rule management system (BRMS) and rule engine, which is part of the JBoss Community under Red Hat. It is known for its flexibility and ability to handle complex rule processing scenarios. Drools supports both forward and backward chaining, allowing for sophisticated rule execution. With a strong community, extensive documentation, and active development, Drools is considered a robust choice for implementing business rules that require dynamic, rule-based decision-making.

Recommended for

  • Enterprise applications requiring complex rule processing
  • Systems that need dynamic business rule management
  • Applications that benefit from leveraging both forward and backward chaining
  • Projects that can benefit from integration with other JBoss tools
  • Development teams familiar with Java as Drools is Java-based

Apache Flink videos

GOTO 2019 • Introduction to Stateful Stream Processing with Apache Flink • Robert Metzger

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Apache Flink Tutorial | Flink vs Spark | Real Time Analytics Using Flink | Apache Flink Training
  • Tutorial - How to build a modern stream processor: The science behind Apache Flink - Stefan Richter

Drools videos

Dog Feed :- Drools Dog Food Review (In Hindi) By Dog N Dogs

More videos:

  • Review - drools focus dog food review with PROOF
  • Review - Pet Care - Know About All Drools Product - Special guest - Bhola Shola

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Apache Flink and Drools)
Big Data
100 100%
0% 0
BPM
0 0%
100% 100
Stream Processing
100 100%
0% 0
Automation
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Apache Flink should be more popular than Drools. It has been mentiond 41 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Apache Flink mentions (41)

  • What is Apache Flink? Exploring Its Open Source Business Model, Funding, and Community
    Continuous Learning: Leverage online tutorials from the official Flink website and attend webinars for deeper insights. - Source: dev.to / 29 days ago
  • Is RisingWave the Next Apache Flink?
    Apache Flink, known initially as Stratosphere, is a distributed stream processing engine initiated by a group of researchers at TU Berlin. Since its initial release in May 2011, Flink has gained immense popularity in both academia and industry. And it is currently the most well-known streaming system globally (challenge me if you think I got it wrong!). - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Every Database Will Support Iceberg — Here's Why
    Apache Iceberg defines a table format that separates how data is stored from how data is queried. Any engine that implements the Iceberg integration — Spark, Flink, Trino, DuckDB, Snowflake, RisingWave — can read and/or write Iceberg data directly. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • RisingWave Turns Four: Our Journey Beyond Democratizing Stream Processing
    The last decade saw the rise of open-source frameworks like Apache Flink, Spark Streaming, and Apache Samza. These offered more flexibility but still demanded significant engineering muscle to run effectively at scale. Companies using them often needed specialized stream processing engineers just to manage internal state, tune performance, and handle the day-to-day operational challenges. The barrier to entry... - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Twitter's 600-Tweet Daily Limit Crisis: Soaring GCP Costs and the Open Source Fix Elon Musk Ignored
    Apache Flink: Flink is a unified streaming and batching platform developed under the Apache Foundation. It provides support for Java API and a SQL interface. Flink boasts a large ecosystem and can seamlessly integrate with various services, including Kafka, Pulsar, HDFS, Iceberg, Hudi, and other systems. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
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Drools mentions (6)

  • Ask HN: What is the current state of "logical" AI?
    See https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2023/6/273222-the-silent-revolution-of-sat/fulltext and also modern production rules engines like https://drools.org/ Oddly, back when “expert system shells” were cool people thought 10,000 rules were difficult to handle, now 1,000,000 might not be a problem at all. Back then the RETE algorithm was still under development and people were using linear search and not hash tables... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • How Expert Systems AI is Transforming Industries
    Drools – an open-source business rule management system that allows developers to create and manage complex decision logic. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Your views and opinions on Python's rule-engine package
    - Drools - Available in JVM environments (Java, Scala and similar) - uses FEEL for expression language. Source: about 2 years ago
  • 🚀 Introducing GoRules: Open-Source Business Rules Engine
    GoRules is a modern, open-source rules engine designed for high performance and scalability. Our mission is to democratise rules engines and drive early adoption. Rules engines are very useful as they allow business users to easily understand and modify core business logic with little help from developers. You can think of us as a modern, less memory-hungry version of Drools that will be available in many... Source: about 2 years ago
  • A General Workflow Engine
    Is this something like Drools? It's quite uncommon but it is used in situations where certain sets of business rules change a lot and you want business analysts to be able to quickly change them in a simple graphical UI. Source: over 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Apache Flink and Drools, you can also consider the following products

Apache Spark - Apache Spark is an engine for big data processing, with built-in modules for streaming, SQL, machine learning and graph processing.

DecisionRules.io - Business rule engine that lets you create and deploy business rules, while all your rules run in a secure and scalable cloud. Unlike other rule engines, you can create your first rule in 5 minutes and make 100k decisions in a minute via API.

Spring Framework - The Spring Framework provides a comprehensive programming and configuration model for modern Java-based enterprise applications - on any kind of deployment platform.

Camunda - The Universal Process Orchestrator

Amazon Kinesis - Amazon Kinesis services make it easy to work with real-time streaming data in the AWS cloud.

GoRules.io - Open-source business rules engine for automating decisions