Install the ZEN Engine and evaluate your first decision in Android.
Installation
dependencies {
implementation("io.gorules:zen-engine-kotlin-android:0.4.7")
}
Basic usage
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.ZenEngine
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.JsonBuffer
import kotlinx.coroutines.runBlocking
class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
runBlocking {
val ruleJson = assets.open("rules/pricing.json").readBytes()
ZenEngine(null, null).use { engine ->
val decision = engine.createDecision(JsonBuffer(ruleJson))
val input = JsonBuffer("""
{
"customer": { "tier": "gold", "yearsActive": 3 },
"order": { "subtotal": 150, "items": 5 }
}
""")
val response = decision.evaluate(input, null)
Log.d("ZenEngine", response.result.toString())
// => {"discount":0.15,"freeShipping":true}
}
}
}
}
Loader
The loader pattern enables dynamic decision loading from any storage backend. Implement the ZenDecisionLoaderCallback interface with a suspend fun load(key: String): JsonBuffer? method. Use ConcurrentHashMap to cache decisions for optimal performance.
Assets
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.ZenEngine
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.ZenDecisionLoaderCallback
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.JsonBuffer
import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap
import kotlinx.coroutines.runBlocking
val cache = ConcurrentHashMap<String, ByteArray>()
fun createEngine(context: Context): ZenEngine {
val loader = object : ZenDecisionLoaderCallback {
override suspend fun load(key: String): JsonBuffer? {
val bytes = cache.computeIfAbsent(key) {
context.assets.open("rules/$key").readBytes()
}
return JsonBuffer(bytes)
}
}
return ZenEngine(loader, null)
}
Internal storage
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.ZenEngine
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.ZenDecisionLoaderCallback
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.JsonBuffer
import java.io.File
import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap
val cache = ConcurrentHashMap<String, ByteArray>()
fun createEngine(context: Context): ZenEngine {
val loader = object : ZenDecisionLoaderCallback {
override suspend fun load(key: String): JsonBuffer? {
val bytes = cache.computeIfAbsent(key) {
File(context.filesDir, "rules/$key").readBytes()
}
return JsonBuffer(bytes)
}
}
return ZenEngine(loader, null)
}
Firebase Remote Config
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.ZenEngine
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.ZenDecisionLoaderCallback
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.JsonBuffer
import com.google.firebase.remoteconfig.FirebaseRemoteConfig
import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap
val remoteConfig = FirebaseRemoteConfig.getInstance()
val cache = ConcurrentHashMap<String, ByteArray>()
fun createEngine(): ZenEngine {
val loader = object : ZenDecisionLoaderCallback {
override suspend fun load(key: String): JsonBuffer? {
val bytes = cache.computeIfAbsent(key) {
remoteConfig.getString("decision_$key").toByteArray()
}
return JsonBuffer(bytes)
}
}
return ZenEngine(loader, null)
}
Remote URL with caching
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.ZenEngine
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.ZenDecisionLoaderCallback
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.JsonBuffer
import okhttp3.OkHttpClient
import okhttp3.Request
import java.io.File
import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap
val client = OkHttpClient()
val cache = ConcurrentHashMap<String, ByteArray>()
fun createEngine(context: Context): ZenEngine {
val loader = object : ZenDecisionLoaderCallback {
override suspend fun load(key: String): JsonBuffer? {
val bytes = cache.computeIfAbsent(key) {
val cacheFile = File(context.cacheDir, "rules/$key")
if (cacheFile.exists()) {
cacheFile.readBytes()
} else {
val request = Request.Builder()
.url("https://api.example.com/rules/$key")
.build()
val responseBytes = client.newCall(request).execute().body!!.bytes()
cacheFile.parentFile?.mkdirs()
cacheFile.writeBytes(responseBytes)
responseBytes
}
}
return JsonBuffer(bytes)
}
}
return ZenEngine(loader, null)
}
Remote URL with zip
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.ZenEngine
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.ZenDecisionLoaderCallback
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.JsonBuffer
import okhttp3.OkHttpClient
import okhttp3.Request
import java.io.File
import java.util.zip.ZipInputStream
import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream
val client = OkHttpClient()
val rules = mutableMapOf<String, ByteArray>()
fun initializeRules(context: Context) {
val cacheFile = File(context.cacheDir, "decisions.zip")
val zipBytes = if (cacheFile.exists()) {
cacheFile.readBytes()
} else {
val request = Request.Builder()
.url("https://api.example.com/decisions.zip")
.build()
val responseBytes = client.newCall(request).execute().body!!.bytes()
cacheFile.parentFile?.mkdirs()
cacheFile.writeBytes(responseBytes)
responseBytes
}
// Extract all decisions from zip
ZipInputStream(ByteArrayInputStream(zipBytes)).use { zis ->
var entry = zis.nextEntry
while (entry != null) {
if (!entry.isDirectory) {
rules[entry.name] = zis.readBytes()
}
entry = zis.nextEntry
}
}
}
fun createEngine(): ZenEngine {
val loader = object : ZenDecisionLoaderCallback {
override suspend fun load(key: String): JsonBuffer? {
return rules[key]?.let { JsonBuffer(it) }
}
}
return ZenEngine(loader, null)
}
Firebase Storage with zip
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.ZenEngine
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.ZenDecisionLoaderCallback
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.JsonBuffer
import com.google.firebase.storage.FirebaseStorage
import java.io.File
import java.util.zip.ZipInputStream
import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream
import kotlinx.coroutines.tasks.await
val storage = FirebaseStorage.getInstance()
val rules = mutableMapOf<String, ByteArray>()
suspend fun initializeRules(context: Context) {
val cacheFile = File(context.cacheDir, "decisions.zip")
val zipBytes = if (cacheFile.exists()) {
cacheFile.readBytes()
} else {
// Download from Firebase Storage
val ref = storage.reference.child("decisions.zip")
val maxSize: Long = 10 * 1024 * 1024 // 10MB max
val bytes = ref.getBytes(maxSize).await()
cacheFile.parentFile?.mkdirs()
cacheFile.writeBytes(bytes)
bytes
}
// Extract all decisions from zip
ZipInputStream(ByteArrayInputStream(zipBytes)).use { zis ->
var entry = zis.nextEntry
while (entry != null) {
if (!entry.isDirectory) {
rules[entry.name] = zis.readBytes()
}
entry = zis.nextEntry
}
}
}
fun createEngine(): ZenEngine {
val loader = object : ZenDecisionLoaderCallback {
override suspend fun load(key: String): JsonBuffer? {
return rules[key]?.let { JsonBuffer(it) }
}
}
return ZenEngine(loader, null)
}
Coroutines
Evaluation functions are suspend functions, integrating natively with Kotlin coroutines:
import kotlinx.coroutines.*
lifecycleScope.launch {
val results = inputs.map { input ->
async(Dispatchers.Default) {
decision.evaluate(JsonBuffer(input), null)
}
}.awaitAll()
results.forEach { Log.d("ZenEngine", it.result.toString()) }
}
Error handling
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.ZenException
try {
val response = decision.evaluate(input, null)
Log.d("ZenEngine", response.result.toString())
} catch (e: ZenException) {
Log.e("ZenEngine", "Evaluation failed: ${e.message}")
}
Tracing
Enable tracing to inspect decision execution:
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.ZenEvaluateOptions
val options = ZenEvaluateOptions(trace = true, maxDepth = null)
val response = decision.evaluate(input, options)
Log.d("ZenEngine", "Trace: ${response.trace}")
Log.d("ZenEngine", "Performance: ${response.performance}")
Expression utilities
Evaluate ZEN expressions outside of a decision context:
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.evaluateExpression
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.evaluateUnaryExpression
import io.gorules.zen_engine.kotlin.JsonBuffer
// Standard expressions
val result = evaluateExpression("a + b", JsonBuffer("""{ "a": 5, "b": 3 }"""))
// => 8
val total = evaluateExpression("sum(items)", JsonBuffer("""{ "items": [1, 2, 3, 4] }"""))
// => 10
// Unary expressions (comparison against $)
val isValid = evaluateUnaryExpression(">= 5", JsonBuffer("""{ "$": 10 }"""))
// => true
val inList = evaluateUnaryExpression("'US', 'CA', 'MX'", JsonBuffer("""{ "$": "US" }"""))
// => true
The Android bindings use JNA (Java Native Access) for interoperability with the native Rust engine. This introduces some overhead compared to native Rust or direct bindings. We plan to revisit this when the FFM (Foreign Function & Memory) API becomes more widely adopted.
Best practices
Use .use {} for resource management. ZenEngine implements AutoCloseable to release native resources.
ZenEngine(null, null).use { engine ->
// use engine
}
Initialize the engine once. Create a single ZenEngine instance at application startup and reuse it for all evaluations.
Cache decisions persistently. Use internal storage or SharedPreferences to cache downloaded decisions for offline use.
Evaluate on background threads. Use Dispatchers.Default or Dispatchers.IO to avoid blocking the main thread.
Bundle fallback decisions. Include decisions in assets as fallback for first launch or network failures.