Logic Programming Paradigm

In this chapter we analyse a second main paradigm which supports declarative programming: logic programming. This paradigm includes both theoretical and fully implemented languages, of which the best known is surely Prolog. Even if there are big differences of a pragmatic and, for some, a theoretical nature between these languages, they all share the idea of interpreting computation as logical deduction. In this chapter, we will therefore examine these concepts while trying to limit the theoretical part. We also adopt the approach that has characterised the rest of the text while examining this paradigm. We do not mean therefore to teach programming in Prolog, even if we present various examples of real programs, but we do intend to provide enough basis for understanding and, in a short time, mastering this and other logic programming languages.