NoSQL experimentations with Activiti: A (very simple) Neo4J prototype
From the post:
I’ve got this itch for a long time now to try and see how easy it is to write a BPM engine on a graph database such as Neo4J. After all, the data model fits perfectly, as business processes are graphs and executions of those processes basically boil down to keeping pointers to where you are in that graph. It just feels as a very natural fit.
So I spend some time implementing a prototype, which you can find on https://github.com/jbarrez/activiti-neo4j
The prototype contains some unit tests which execute simple BPMN 2.0 processes. I tried to be as close as possible to the Activiti concepts of services, commands, executions, JavaDelegates, etc. Currently covered:
If BPMN is unfamiliar:
A standard Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) will provide businesses with the capability of understanding their internal business procedures in a graphical notation and will give organizations the ability to communicate these procedures in a standard manner. Furthermore, the graphical notation will facilitate the understanding of the performance collaborations and business transactions between the organizations. This will ensure that businesses will understand themselves and participants in their business and will enable organizations to adjust to new internal and B2B business circumstances quickly.
BPMN homepage, includes links to version 2.0 and other materials.
Processes, business and otherwise, seem like naturals to model as graphs.