Recommended FSM (Finite State Machine) Library for Java [closed]

Question

Is there a best-of-breed in-memory FSM library for Java?

I think ideal library would be relatively simple with support for events, actions, and transitions. It wouldn't require external configuration or precompilation. It wouldn't have to be concurrent capable or multi-threaded. Nice if it was hierarchical, but also not required. I think the State Machine included in Qt (C++) is at the ideal level of complexity and functionality. In fact, there are a number of interesting FSM libraries for C/C++, but I've been unable to find anything similar for Java.

I've come across the following Java libraries so far:

Unimod FSM Framework - Looks very good, but maybe overly complex.
Tungsten FSM Library - No longer active as a standalone library. No documentation that I could find.
Apache SCXML - Maybe? I've read that it has issues, but haven't used it yet myself.

A number of articles online discuss ideas for implementing a custom FSM in Java, and maybe that's the way to go for simple in-memory FSM needs. At first I considered using a BPM engine like Activiti, but I think that those types of libraries are overkill and are more oriented towards process workflow.

I'm looking to use an FSM for managing the high level behaviors of a small robot. However, I would expect a decent FSM library of this type would also be applicable to GUI state management, game flow, and simple AI.

Any library recommendations, notes on experience with libraries above, or pointers to recent and modern FSM implementation strategies in Java would be appreciated.

John Oxley · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-23 09:08:26Z

up vote 35 down vote accepted

In answer to my question, there seems to be no defacto FSM libraries for Java. The complete list of options I've come across as of April 2013:

From original question:

Updates:

SMC: The State Map Compiler (per @Jordão's answer)
Stateless4J (per @Basis Musa's answer)
Ragel State Machine Compiler
EasyFlow (per @Andrey's answer)
Squirrel-Foundation (per @Fluera's answer)

Also:

JavaScript Finite State Machine
- A clean design that could be easily used from Java with embedded script engine.

edited Apr 23 '14 at 9:08

John Oxley
4,682 8 30 62

answered Nov 21 '12 at 17:25

kaliatech
9,422 3 31 48

SMC link doesn't work, also the question is asking about a Java library. Not javascript, not C, not C++. – Basil Musa Nov 29 '12 at 10:54

4

@Basil If the SMC link didn't work, then it's because SourceForge was down temporarily. It works fine now. All of the libraries listed, except for the JavaScript FSM, work with Java directly, or generate pure Java code. And as I explained, the JavaScript FSM can be used from Java using an embedded interpreter. There was no reason to downvote this answer. Thanks for the Stateless4J suggestion. Looks very interesting and I updated this answer to include it. – kaliatech Nov 29 '12 at 14:38

2

Down vote removed. Up vote applied. Work stress makes me overlook many gems. Apologies. – Basil Musa Dec 2 '12 at 11:56

1

The Tungsten FSM library seems to be no longer maintained. – spaceknarf Sep 29 '14 at 10:43

Thanks for the list all. Could be worth having a brief summary of features in each. Just to add a little info, Stateless4j has parameterised arguments which were a particular feature I was looking for - they help to capture the information you don't want to put into a state. (e.g. an error code in an error trigger). It would be cool to quickly assess which libraries do this – Sam Feb 3 at 18:07

add a comment

Dimitri Papaioannou · Answer 2 · 2012-12-26 15:52:19Z

This library is a very simple but fully functional state machine implementation:http://sourceforge.net/projects/javafsm/ It can be used for two quite distinct sets of purposes:

Define business workflow with the purpose of validating state transitions
Use it as a theoretical FSM for language recognition by defining an alphabet and using the accept() method for strings on this alphabet.

Here is an example of how to build a state machine with JavaFSM:

FSMBuilder<String> builder = FSM.newFSM();
FiniteStateMachine<String> machine =      
builder.setInitialState("A")
       .addFinalState("B")
       .addTransition("A", "A", '0')
       .addTransition("A", "B", '1')
       .addTransition("B", "A", '1')
       .addTransition("B", "B", '0')
       .build();

Bùi Việt Thành · Answer 3 · 2013-02-25 02:42:06Z

up vote 6 down vote

akka's FSM is also an option..

answered Feb 25 '13 at 2:42

Bùi Việt Thành
94 2 7

add a comment

Jordão · Answer 4 · 2012-06-04 01:33:23Z

up vote 5 down vote

In the book Agile Software Development, Uncle Bob discusses Finite State Machines and the Statepattern (if I remember correctly). He's created an FSM compiler called SMC. Take a look.

answered Jun 4 '12 at 1:33

Jordão
32k 4 62 79

The State Map Compiler (SMC) requires external definition and a precompiler, but still, it's very interesting and I hadn't come across it before. Thanks. – kaliatech Jun 4 '12 at 13:11

@kaliatech and Jordao: I was looking for a popular and decent quality state machine that can be used in android. Can you please elaborate on your experience with SMC; having an external definition seemed like a plus to me. – likejiujitsu Jun 4 '14 at 14:51

add a comment

Basil Musa · Answer 5 · 2012-11-29 10:55:47Z

up vote 5 down vote

Try this wonderful library from code.google.com :

Stateless4J

answered Nov 29 '12 at 10:55

Basil Musa
797 1 13 25

1

That version is no longer being maintained, try github.com/oxo42/stateless4j </plug> – John Oxley Apr 23 '14 at 9:06

add a comment

Flueras Bogdan · Answer 6 · 2013-04-18 14:32:20Z

up vote 5 down vote

You can check for "squirell-foundation" too.

answered Apr 18 '13 at 14:32

Flueras Bogdan
2,133 7 22 28

1

Too much reflection/annotations, Android no likey. – MLProgrammer-CiM Oct 23 '14 at 13:39

add a comment

Andrey Chausenko · Answer 7 · 2013-04-16 02:10:25Z

up vote 2 down vote

I was looking for a FSM for Android a few months ago but couldn't find anything suitable, so had to create my own - EasyFlow.

I reviewed the existing at that moment solutions and developed a light-weight library that is easier to use. With EasyFlow even complex logic can be implemented with clean and well-structured code.

If anyone's still looking for a state machine for java, check it out.

You can contribute to the project as well.

answered Apr 16 '13 at 2:10

Andrey Chausenko
101 4

Hey I had a look at EasyFlow and it looks good. unfortunately, one of the main features I'd like to have is paramaterized arguments. I've come to realise they let you capture the things you dont want to put into states, but DO have as a requirement. I just thought I'd add this help anyone make a decision - if you don't need parameterised event arguments , EasyFlow looks like one of the lightest-weight state machine implementations on the list. – Sam Feb 3 at 18:28

add a comment

Chapman Flack · Answer 8 · 2013-09-25 13:59:18Z

The CS department at Aarhus University has www.brics.dk/automaton which looks interesting. It seems most geared towards automata derived from regular expressions, but you can create them manually. It has three different algorithms for determinizing an NFA, and a lot of formal operations on automata (combining them, comparing them, describing what input sequences they'll match, etc.)

I don't see support for actions, which seems an odd omission to me. Maybe I'm missing it. Maybe it's tricky to have them end up in the right places after the various formal operations. Still, it doesn't seem as if it should be impossible to have some notion of actions; maybe that could be added and submitted upstream.

John Oxley · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-23 09:08:26Z

up vote 35 down vote accepted

In answer to my question, there seems to be no defacto FSM libraries for Java. The complete list of options I've come across as of April 2013:

From original question:

Updates:

SMC: The State Map Compiler (per @Jordão's answer)
Stateless4J (per @Basis Musa's answer)
Ragel State Machine Compiler
EasyFlow (per @Andrey's answer)
Squirrel-Foundation (per @Fluera's answer)

Also:

JavaScript Finite State Machine
- A clean design that could be easily used from Java with embedded script engine.

edited Apr 23 '14 at 9:08

John Oxley
4,682 8 30 62

answered Nov 21 '12 at 17:25

kaliatech
9,422 3 31 48

SMC link doesn't work, also the question is asking about a Java library. Not javascript, not C, not C++. – Basil Musa Nov 29 '12 at 10:54

4

@Basil If the SMC link didn't work, then it's because SourceForge was down temporarily. It works fine now. All of the libraries listed, except for the JavaScript FSM, work with Java directly, or generate pure Java code. And as I explained, the JavaScript FSM can be used from Java using an embedded interpreter. There was no reason to downvote this answer. Thanks for the Stateless4J suggestion. Looks very interesting and I updated this answer to include it. – kaliatech Nov 29 '12 at 14:38

2

Down vote removed. Up vote applied. Work stress makes me overlook many gems. Apologies. – Basil Musa Dec 2 '12 at 11:56

1

The Tungsten FSM library seems to be no longer maintained. – spaceknarf Sep 29 '14 at 10:43

Thanks for the list all. Could be worth having a brief summary of features in each. Just to add a little info, Stateless4j has parameterised arguments which were a particular feature I was looking for - they help to capture the information you don't want to put into a state. (e.g. an error code in an error trigger). It would be cool to quickly assess which libraries do this – Sam Feb 3 at 18:07

add a comment

Dimitri Papaioannou · Answer 10 · 2012-12-26 15:52:19Z

This library is a very simple but fully functional state machine implementation:http://sourceforge.net/projects/javafsm/ It can be used for two quite distinct sets of purposes:

Define business workflow with the purpose of validating state transitions
Use it as a theoretical FSM for language recognition by defining an alphabet and using the accept() method for strings on this alphabet.

Here is an example of how to build a state machine with JavaFSM:

FSMBuilder<String> builder = FSM.newFSM();
FiniteStateMachine<String> machine =      
builder.setInitialState("A")
       .addFinalState("B")
       .addTransition("A", "A", '0')
       .addTransition("A", "B", '1')
       .addTransition("B", "A", '1')
       .addTransition("B", "B", '0')
       .build();

Bùi Việt Thành · Answer 11 · 2013-02-25 02:42:06Z

up vote 6 down vote

akka's FSM is also an option..

answered Feb 25 '13 at 2:42

Bùi Việt Thành
94 2 7

add a comment

Jordão · Answer 12 · 2012-06-04 01:33:23Z

up vote 5 down vote

In the book Agile Software Development, Uncle Bob discusses Finite State Machines and the Statepattern (if I remember correctly). He's created an FSM compiler called SMC. Take a look.

answered Jun 4 '12 at 1:33

Jordão
32k 4 62 79

The State Map Compiler (SMC) requires external definition and a precompiler, but still, it's very interesting and I hadn't come across it before. Thanks. – kaliatech Jun 4 '12 at 13:11

@kaliatech and Jordao: I was looking for a popular and decent quality state machine that can be used in android. Can you please elaborate on your experience with SMC; having an external definition seemed like a plus to me. – likejiujitsu Jun 4 '14 at 14:51

add a comment

Basil Musa · Answer 13 · 2012-11-29 10:55:47Z

up vote 5 down vote

Try this wonderful library from code.google.com :

Stateless4J

answered Nov 29 '12 at 10:55

Basil Musa
797 1 13 25

1

That version is no longer being maintained, try github.com/oxo42/stateless4j </plug> – John Oxley Apr 23 '14 at 9:06

add a comment

Flueras Bogdan · Answer 14 · 2013-04-18 14:32:20Z

up vote 5 down vote

You can check for "squirell-foundation" too.

answered Apr 18 '13 at 14:32

Flueras Bogdan
2,133 7 22 28

1

Too much reflection/annotations, Android no likey. – MLProgrammer-CiM Oct 23 '14 at 13:39

add a comment

Andrey Chausenko · Answer 15 · 2013-04-16 02:10:25Z

up vote 2 down vote

I was looking for a FSM for Android a few months ago but couldn't find anything suitable, so had to create my own - EasyFlow.

I reviewed the existing at that moment solutions and developed a light-weight library that is easier to use. With EasyFlow even complex logic can be implemented with clean and well-structured code.

If anyone's still looking for a state machine for java, check it out.

You can contribute to the project as well.

answered Apr 16 '13 at 2:10

Andrey Chausenko
101 4

Hey I had a look at EasyFlow and it looks good. unfortunately, one of the main features I'd like to have is paramaterized arguments. I've come to realise they let you capture the things you dont want to put into states, but DO have as a requirement. I just thought I'd add this help anyone make a decision - if you don't need parameterised event arguments , EasyFlow looks like one of the lightest-weight state machine implementations on the list. – Sam Feb 3 at 18:28

add a comment

Chapman Flack · Answer 16 · 2013-09-25 13:59:18Z

The CS department at Aarhus University has www.brics.dk/automaton which looks interesting. It seems most geared towards automata derived from regular expressions, but you can create them manually. It has three different algorithms for determinizing an NFA, and a lot of formal operations on automata (combining them, comparing them, describing what input sequences they'll match, etc.)

I don't see support for actions, which seems an odd omission to me. Maybe I'm missing it. Maybe it's tricky to have them end up in the right places after the various formal operations. Still, it doesn't seem as if it should be impossible to have some notion of actions; maybe that could be added and submitted upstream.

Recommended FSM (Finite State Machine) Library for Java [closed]

closed as off-topic by Raedwald, rgettman, bmargulies, Makoto, Drew Sep 28 '13 at 1:44

8 Answers

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged java finite-state-machine fsm orask your own question.

closed as off-topic by Raedwald, rgettman, bmargulies, Makoto, Drew Sep 28 '13 at 1:44

8 Answers

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged java finite-state-machine fsm orask your own question.