Converting a decision tree to a set of rules is easy: each path from the root to a leaf becomes a rule, and there’s no blowup. On the other hand, in the worst case converting a set of rules into a decision tree requires converting each rule into a mini-decision tree, and then replacing each leaf of rule 1’s tree with a copy of rule 2’s tree, each leaf of each copy of rule 2 with a copy of rule 3, and so on, causing a massive blowup.
