Ubiquitous Nature of Event-Driven Approaches: A Retrospective View

Abstract

This paper retrospectively analyzes the progress of event-based capability and
their applicability in various domains. Although research on event-based
approaches started in a humble manner with the intention of introducing
triggers in database management systems for monitoring application state and to
automate applications by reducing/eliminating user intervention, currently it
has become a force to reckon with as it finds use in many diverse domains. This
is primarily due to the fact that a large number of real-world applications are
indeed event-driven and hence the paradigm is apposite.

In this paper, we briefly overview the development of the ECA (or
event-condition-action) paradigm. We briefly discuss the evolution of the ECA
paradigm (or active capability) in relational and Object-oriented systems. We
then describe several diverse applications where the ECA paradigm has been used
effectively. The applications range from customized monitoring of web pages to
specification and enforcement of access control policies using RBAC (role-based
access control). The multitude of applications clearly demonstrate the
ubiquitous nature of event-based approaches to problems that were not
envisioned as the ones where the active capability would be applicable.
Finally, we indicate some future trends that can benefit from the ECA paradigm.