Decision support systems and Ruby

Peter - I am trying to develop decision support systems that use Drools, which is obviously a Java based product, but creating the environment to fire the rules in Java requires a lot of code. Does Ruby offer a mechanism for accessing Drools?

If your coding in Ruby and need a rules engine, why not check out Rools, or Ruleby?

I thought of Rools too, but I guess he is fixed with Drools.
Drools being java based, it should be possible to integrate with ruby using JRuby, but that is something for which there is no supporting api or library available.

Thanks. Drools is a mature product and am developing with Java several complex decision support applications. However, I have explored Ruby for a few days or weeks every year for past five years, and each time it is very appealing. But not sure could use something like Rools, etc.

My team often asks "how can we integrate Ruby code with Java code on our projects", if we are to use both languages?

While JRuby is the obvious answer, I don't believe that polyglot programming stresses that language "A" has to talk directly to language "B" in order to be effective. I propose that because Ruby and RoR can talk via HTTP, they can then talk to back-end functionality written in various languages. Direct access isn't the only option.

Maybe I have a logical set of rules implemented with Drools, fronted by restful web-services. My Ruby (or RoR) code can talk directly to the WS layer, and each layer can be tested distinctly.

In some ways, I wonder if the question about Ruby talking to Java isn't better solved by design, vs platform.