TABLOG: A New Approach to Logic Programming
Abstract
TABLOG is a programming language based on first-order predicate logic with equality that combines relational and functional programming. In addition to featuring both the advantages of functional notation and the power of unification as a binding mechanism, TABLOG also supports a more general subset of standard first-order logic than PROLOG and most other logic-programming languages. The Manna-Waldinger deductive-tableau proof system is employed as an interpreter for TABLOG in the same way that PROLOG uses a resolution proof system. Unification is used by TABLOG to match a query with a line in the program and to bind arguments. The basic rules of deduction used for computing are a nonclausal resolution rule that generalizes classical resolution to arbitrary first-order sentences and an equality rule that is a generalization of narrowing and paramodulation. In this article we described the basic features of TABLOG and its (implemented) sequential interpreter, and we discuss some of its properties. We give examples to demonstrate when TABLOG is better than a functional language like LISP and when it is better than a relational language like PROLOG.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1985
- Accession Number
- ADA221991
Entities
People
- Richard Waldinger
- Yonathan Malachi
- Zohar Manna
Organizations
- Stanford University