Principles of Logic and Logic Programming

by Metakides, George; Nerode, Anil; Sinachopoulos, A.

• ISBN13: 9780444816443
• ISBN10: 0444816445
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-05-01
• Publisher: Elsevier Science Ltd

Summary

Logic's basic elements are unfolded in this book. The relation of and the transition from Logic to Logic Programming are analysed.With the use and the development of computers in the beginning of the 1950's, it soon became clear that computers could be used, not only for arithmetical computation, but also for symbolic computation. Hence, the first arithmetical computation programs, and the first programs created to answer elementary questions and prove simple theorems, were written simultaneously. The basic steps towards a general method based on Logic, were accomplished in 1965 by Robinson and later by Kowalski and Colmerauer who made use of Logic directly as a Logic Programming language. Each chapter includes solved as well as unsolved exercises provided to help the reader assimilate the corresponding topics. The solved exercises demonstrate how to work methodically, whereas the unsolved exercises aim to stimulate the reader's personal initiative. The contents of the book are self-contained; only an elementary knowledge of analysis is required. Thus, it can be used by students in every academic year, as simply reading material, or in the context of a course. It can also be used by those who utilize Logic Programming without having any particular theoretical background knowledge of Logic, or by those simply interested in Logic and its applications in Logic Programming.

Table of Contents

Propositional Logic

Introduction

The language of propositional logic

Semantic concepts in propositional logic

Truth tables

Consequences and interpretations

Adequacy of logical connectives - normal forms

Semantic tableaux

Axiomatic proofs

Resolution

Soundness and completeness of tableaux

Deductions from assumptions

Soundness and completeness of axiomatic proofs

Soundness and completeness of resolution

Exercises

Predicate logic

Introduction

The language of predicate logic

Axiomatic foundation of predicate logic

Notation in logic programming

Interpretations of predicate logic

Normal forms in predicate logic

Herbrand interpretations

Proofs with systematic tableaux

Unification and resolution in PrL

Soundness and completeness of PrL proofs

Decision methods in logic

Exercises

Logic Programming: The Prolog Paradigm

PROLOG and Logic Programming

Logic and programming

Logic programming

Historical evolution

Program Structure

The program elements

The facts

The rules

The queries

Syntax of Data

The objects of PROLOG

The alphabet of PROLOG

The variables

The constants

The predicates

Tree structure of predicates

The lists

Operation Mechanism

The unification procedure in PROLOG

Inference and the backtracking procedure

Depth-first search

Controlling backtracking: cut

Recursive definitions in PROLOG

List management

Built-in Predicates

Data management predicates: assert and retract

Interaction predicates: read, write and consult

Equality in PROLOG

Arithmetic in PROLOG

Type checking of objects

The operators

The Towers of Hanoi

Negation in PROLOG

The closed world assumption and negation by failure

Normal goals

Completion of programs

Normal programs and stratification

The predicate fail

The predicate not

Nonmonotonic logics

Expert Systems

Artificial intelligence

Expert systems and knowledge management

An expert system for kidney diseases

The Evolution of Logic Programming

Editions of PROLOG

Dialects of PROLOG

PROLOG and metaprogramming

PROLOG and parallelism

PROLOG and Predicate Logic

Exercises

Bibliography

Index of Symbols

Index of Terms

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.