Alternatives and detailed information of prolog

What is this?

ichiban/prolog is an embeddable scripting language for Go. Unlike any other scripting engines, ichiban/prolog implements logic programming language Prolog.

Easy to reason about: based on first-order logic
Easy to adopt: database/sql-like Go API
Intelligent: full-featured Prolog implementation
Highly customizable: sandboxing, custom predicates

`ichiban/prolog` vs otto vs go-lua

	prolog	otto	go-lua
Language	ISO Prolog	ECMA Script	Lua
Paradigm	🎓 Logic	Object-oriented	Object-oriented
Go API	😻 `database/sql`-like	original	original
Declarative	✅	❌	❌
Sandboxing	✅	❌	✅

Getting started

Install latest version

go get -u github.com/ichiban/prolog

Usage

Instantiate an interpreter

p := prolog.New(os.Stdin, os.Stdout) // Or `prolog.New(nil, nil)` if you don't need user_input/user_output.

Or, if you want a sandbox interpreter without any built-in predicates:

// See examples/sandboxing/main.go for details.
p := new(prolog.Interpreter)

Load a Prolog program

if err := p.Exec(`
	human(socrates).       % This is a fact.
	mortal(X) :- human(X). % This is a rule.
`); err != nil {
	panic(err)
}

Similar to database/sql, you can use placeholder ? to insert Go data as Prolog data.

if err := p.Exec(`human(?).`, "socrates"); err != nil { // Same as p.Exec(`human(socrates).`)
	panic(err)
}

Run the Prolog program

sols, err := p.Query(`mortal(?).`, "socrates") // Same as p.Query(`mortal(socrates).`)
if err != nil {
	panic(err)
}
defer sols.Close()

// Iterates over solutions.
for sols.Next() {
	fmt.Printf("Yes.\n") // ==> Yes.
}

// Check if an error occurred while querying.
if err := sols.Err(); err != nil {
	panic(err)
}

Or, if you want to query for the variable values for each solution:

sols, err := p.Query(`mortal(Who).`)
if err != nil {
	panic(err)
}
defer sols.Close()

// Iterates over solutions.
for sols.Next() {
	// Prepare a struct with fields which name corresponds with a variable in the query.
	var s struct {
		Who string
	}
	if err := sols.Scan(&s); err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	fmt.Printf("Who = %s\n", s.Who) // ==> Who = socrates
}

// Check if an error occurred while querying.
if err := sols.Err(); err != nil {
	panic(err)
}

The Default Language

Top Level

1pl is an experimental top level command for testing the default language and its compliance to the ISO standard.

You can install it with go install:

go install github.com/ichiban/prolog/cmd/1pl@latest

Then, you can enter the top level with 1pl:

$(go env GOPATH)/bin/1pl [<file>...]

Directives

:- dynamic(PI) Specifies the predicates indicated by PI are dynamic. ISO
:- multifile(PI) Not supported yet. ISO
:- discontiguous(PI) Not supported yet. ISO
:- op(Priority, Specifier, Op) Alters the operator table. ISO
:- char_conversion(In, Out) Alters the character conversion mapping. ISO
:- initialization(T) Not supported yet. ISO
:- include(F) Not supported yet. ISO
:- ensure_loaded(P) Not supported yet. ISO
:- set_prolog_flag(Flag, Value) Alters the value for the Prolog flag. ISO
:- built_in(PI) Specifies the predicates indicated by PI are built-in.

Predicates

Control constructs

true Always succeeds. ISO
fail Always fails. ISO
call(Goal) Calls Goal. ISO
! Cut. ISO
P, Q Conjunction. ISO
P; Q Disjunction. ISO
If -> Then If-then. ISO
If -> Then; Else If-then-else. ISO
catch(Goal, Catcher, Recovery) Calls Goal. If an exception is raised and unifies with Catcher, calls Recovery. ISO
throw(Ball) Raises an exception Ball. ISO

Term unification

X = Y Unifies X with Y. ISO
unify_with_occurs_check(X, Y) Unifies X with Y with occurs check. ISO
X \= Y Succeeds iff X and Y are not unifiable. ISO
subsumes_term(General, Specific) Succeeds iff there's a substitution θ such that Generalθ = Specificθ and Specificθ = Specific. ISO

Type testing

var(X) Succeeds iff X is a variable. ISO
atom(X) Succeeds iff X is an atom. ISO
integer(X) Succeeds iff X is an integer. ISO
float(X) Succeeds iff X is a float. ISO
atomic(X) Succeeds iff X is neither a variable nor a compound. ISO
compound(X) Succeeds iff X is a compound. ISO
nonvar(X) Succeeds iff X is not a variable. ISO
number(X) Succeeds iff X is either an integer or a float. ISO
callable(X) Succeeds iff X is either an atom or a compound. ISO
ground(X) Succeeds iff X is a ground term. ISO
acyclic_term(X) Succeeds iff X is acyclic. ISO

Term comparison

X @=< Y Either X == Y or X @< Y. ISO
X == Y Equivalent to compare(=, X, Y). ISO
X \== Y Equivalent to \+compare(=, X, Y). ISO
X @< Y Equivalent to compare(<, X, Y). ISO
X @> Y Equivalent to compare(>, X, Y). ISO
X @>= Y Either X == Y or X @> Y. ISO
compare(Order, X, Y) Compares X and Y and unifies Order with either <, =, or >. ISO
sort(List, Sorted) Succeeds iff Sorted unifies with a sorted list of List. ISO
keysort(Pairs, Sorted) Succeeds iff Pairs is a list of Key-Value pairs and Sorted unifies with a permutation of Pairs sorted by Key. ISO

Term creation and decomposition

functor(Term, Name, Arity) Succeeds iff Term ia either a compound term of Name and Arity or an atom of Name and Arity = 0. ISO
arg(N, Term, Arg) Succeeds iff Arg is the N-th argument of Term. ISO
Term =.. List Succeeds iff List is a list of the functor and arguments of Term. ISO
copy_term(Term1, Term2) Creates a copy of Term1 and unifies it with Term2. ISO
term_variables(Term, Vars) Succeeds iff Vars is a list of variables appear in Term. ISO

Arithmetic evaluation

Result is Expression Evaluates Expression and unifies it with Result. ISO
- Expression is either:
  - integer,
  - float, or
  - evaluable functors
    - X + Y
    - X - Y
    - X * Y
    - X // Y
    - X / Y
    - X rem Y
    - X mod Y
    - -X
    - abs(X)
    - sign(X)
    - float_integer_part(X)
    - float_fractional_part(X)
    - float(X)
    - floor(X)
    - truncate(X)
    - round(X)
    - ceiling(X)
    - +(X)
    - X div Y
    - X ** Y
    - sin(X)
    - cos(X)
    - atan(X)
    - exp(X)
    - log(X)
    - sqrt(X)
    - max(X, Y)
    - min(X, Y)
    - X ^ Y
    - asin(X)
    - acos(X)
    - atan2(X, Y)
    - tan(X)
    - pi
    - X >> Y
    - X << Y
    - X /\ Y
    - X \/ Y
    - \X
    - xor(X, Y)

succ(X, S) Succeeds iff S is the successor of the non-negative integer X. prologue

Arithmetic comparison

E1 =:= E2 Succeeds iff E1 and E2 are evaluated to EV1 and EV2 respectively and EV1 equals to EV2. ISO
E1 =\= E2 Succeeds iff E1 and E2 are evaluated to EV1 and EV2 respectively and EV1 does not equal to EV2. ISO
E1 < E2 Succeeds iff E1 and E2 are evaluated to EV1 and EV2 respectively and EV1 is greater than EV2. ISO
E1 =< E2 Succeeds iff E1 and E2 are evaluated to EV1 and EV2 respectively and EV1 is greater than or equal to EV2. ISO
E1 > E2 Succeeds iff E1 and E2 are evaluated to EV1 and EV2 respectively and EV1 is less than EV2. ISO
E1 >= E2 Succeeds iff E1 and E2 are evaluated to EV1 and EV2 respectively and EV1 is less than or equal to EV2. ISO

Clause retrieval and information

clause(Head, Body) Succeeds iff Head :- Body unifies with a clause in the DB. ISO
current_predicate(PI) Succeeds iff the predicate indicated by PI is in the DB. ISO

Clause creation and destruction

asserta(Clause) Prepends Clause to the DB. ISO
assertz(Clause) Appends Clause to the DB. ISO
retract(Clause) Removes a clause that unifies withClause from the DB. ISO
abolish(PI) Removes the predicate indicated by PI from the DB. ISO
retractall(Head) Removes all the clauses which head unifies with Head from the DB. ISO

All solutions

findall(Template, Goal, Instances) Succeeds iff Instances unifies with a list of Template for each solution of Goal. ISO
bagof(Template, Goal, Instances) Succeeds iff Instances unifies with a bag (multiset) of Template for each solution of Goal. ISO
setof(Template, Goal, Instances) Succeeds iff Instances unifies with a set of Template for each solution of Goal. ISO

Stream selection and control

current_input(Stream) Succeeds iff Stream unifies with the current input stream. ISO
current_output(Stream) Succeeds iff Stream unifies with the current output stream. ISO
set_input(S_or_a) Sets the current input stream to the stream indicated by S_or_a which is either the stream itself or its alias. ISO
set_output(S_or_a) Sets the current output stream to the stream indicated by S_or_a which is either the stream itself or its alias. ISO
open(File, Mode, Stream, Options) Opens the file File in Mode with Options and unifies the stream with Stream. ISO
- Mode is either: read, write, or append.
- Options is a list of stream options listed below:
  - type(T) Specifies the type of the stream. T is either text (default) or binary.
  - reposition(Bool) Specifies if the stream can be repositions. Bool is either true or false.
  - alias(A) Specifies the alias for the stream. A is an atom.
  - eof_action(Action) Specifies the action that will be taken when the input stream reached to the end. Action is either:
    - error which throws an exception,
    - eof_code which returns a value indicating the end of stream (default), or
    - reset which resets the stream.
open(File, Mode, Stream) Equivalent to open(File, Mode, Stream, []). ISO
close(S_or_a, Options) Closes the stream indicated by S_or_a which is the stream itself or its alias. ISO
- Options is a list of:
  - force(Bool) Specifies if an exception will be raised when it failed to close the stream. Bool is either false (default) or true.
close(S_or_a) Equivalent to close(S_or_a, []). ISO
flush_output(S_or_a) Sends any buffered output to the stream indicated by S_or_a which is either the stream itself or its alias. ISO
flush_output Equivalent to current_output(S), flush_output(S). ISO
stream_property(Stream, Property) Succeeds iff the stream Stream has the property Property. ISO
- Property is either:
  - file_name(F)
  - mode(M)
  - input
  - output
  - alias(A)
  - position(P)
  - end_of_stream(E)
  - eof_action(A)
  - reposition(Bool)
  - type(T)
at_end_of_stream Equivalent to current_input(S), at_end_of_stream(S). ISO
at_end_of_stream(S_or_a) Succeeds iff the stream indicated by S_or_a which is either a stream or an alias has the property either end_of_stream(at) or end_of_stream(past). ISO
set_stream_position(S_or_a, Position) Sets the position of the stream indicated by S_or_a which is either a stream or an alias to the position Position. ISO

Character input/output

get_char(S_or_a, Char) Succeeds iff Char unifies with the next character from the stream indicated by S_or_a which is either a stream or an alias. ISO
get_char(Char) Equivalent to current_input(S), get_char(S, Char). ISO
get_code(S_or_a, Code) Succeeds iff Char unifies with the next code from the stream indicated by S_or_a which is either a stream or an alias. ISO
get_code(Code) Equivalent to current_input(S), get_code(S, Code). ISO
peek_char(S_or_a, Char) Similar to get_char(S_or_a, Char) but doesn't consume the character. ISO
peek_char(Char) Equivalent to current_input(S), peek_char(S, Char). ISO
peek_code(S_or_a, Code) Similar to get_code(S_or_a, Code) but doesn't consume the code. ISO
peek_code(Code) Equivalent to current_input(S), peek_code(S, Code). ISO
put_char(S_or_a, Char) Outputs the character Char to the stream indicated by S_or_a which is either a stream or an alias. ISO
put_char(Char) Equivalent to current_output(S), put_char(S, Char). ISO
put_code(S_or_a, Code) Outputs the code Code to the stream indicated by S_or_a which is either a stream or an alias. ISO
put_code(Code) Equivalent to current_output(S), put_code(S, Code). ISO
nl(S_or_a) Outputs a newline to the stream indicated by S_or_a which is either a stream or an alias. ISO
nl Equivalent to current_output(S), nl(S). ISO

Byte input/output

get_byte(S_or_a, Byte) Succeeds iff Byte unifies with the next byte from the stream indicated by S_or_a which is a stream or an alias. ISO
get_byte(Byte) Equivalent to current_input(S), get_byte(S, Byte). ISO
peek_byte(S_or_a, Byte) Similar to get_byte(S_or_a, Byte) but doesn't consume the byte. ISO
peek_byte(Byte) Equivalent to current_input(S), peek_byte(S, Byte). ISO
put_byte(S_or_a, Byte) Outputs the byte Byte to the stream indicated by S_or_a which is either a stream or an alias. ISO
put_byte(Byte) Equivalent to current_output(S), put_byte(S, Byte). ISO

Term input/output

read_term(S_or_a, Term, Options) Succeeds iff Term unifies with the next term from the stream indicated by S_or_a which is a stream or an alias. ISO
- Options is a list of read options listed below:
  - variables(Vars) the list of variables appeared in Term
  - variable_names(VN_list) the list of A = V where A is an atom which name is the string representation of V and V is a variable appeared in Term
  - singletons(VN_list) similar to variable_names(VN_list) but those of variables that appeared once.
read_term(Term, Options) Equivalent to current_input(S), read_term(S, Term, Options). ISO
read(S_or_a, Term) Equivalent to read_term(S_or_a, Term, []). ISO
read(Term) Equivalent to current_input(S), read(S, Term). ISO
write_term(S_or_a, Term, Options) Outputs Term to the stream indicated by S_or_a which is either a stream or an alias. ISO
- Options is a list of write options listed below:
  - quoted(Bool) Bool is either true or false. If true, atoms and functors will be quoted as needed.
  - ignore_ops(Bool) Bool is either true or false. If true, operators will be written in functional notation.
  - variable_names(VN_list) VN_list is a proper list which element is a form of A = V where A is an atom and V is a variable. Each occurrence of V will be replaced by the leftmost and unquoted A.
  - numbervars(Bool) Bool is either true or false. If true, terms '$VAR'(0), '$VAR'(1), ... will be written as A, B, ...
write_term(Term, Options) Equivalent to current_output(S), write_term(S, Term, Options). ISO
write(S_or_a, Term) Equivalent to write_term(S_or_a, Term, [numbervars(true)]). ISO
write(Term) Equivalent to current_output(S), write(S, Term). ISO
writeq(S_or_a, Term) Equivalent to write_temr(S_or_a, Term, [quoted(true), numbervars(true)]). ISO
writeq(Term) Equivalent to current_output(S), writeq(S, Term). ISO
write_canonical(S_or_a, Term) Equivalent to write_term(S_or_a, Term, [quoted(true), ignore_ops(true)]). ISO
write_canonical(Term) Equivalent to current_output(S), write_canonical(S, Term). ISO
op(Priority, Specifier, Operator) Alters the operator table. ISO
current_op(Priority, Specifier, Operator) Succeeds iff the operator indicated by Priority, Specifier, Operator is in the operator table. ISO
char_conversion(In, Out) Alters the character conversion mapping. ISO
current_char_conversion(In, Out) Succeeds iff the character conversion from In to Out is in the conversion mapping. ISO

Logic and control

\+Goal Succeeds iff call(Goal) fails. ISO
once(Goal) Calls Goal but never redoes. ISO
repeat Repeats the following code until it succeeds. ISO
call(Closure, Arg1, ..., ArgN) N = 1..7. Succeeds iff call(Goal) where Goal is Closure with additional arguments Arg1, ..., ArgN. ISO
false Equivalent to fail. ISO
between(Lower, Upper, X) Succeeds iff Lower <= X <= Upper. prologue

Atomic term processing

atom_length(Atom, Length) Succeeds iff Length is the number of runes in Atom. ISO
atom_concat(Atom1, Atom2, Atom3) Succeeds iff Atom3 is a concatenation of Atom1 and Atom2. ISO
sub_atom(Atom, Before, Length, After, SubAtom) Succeeds iff SubAtom is a sub atom of Atom where Before is the number of runes before SubAtom, Length is the length of SubAtom, and After is the number of runes after SubAtom. ISO
atom_chars(Atom, List) Succeeds iff List is the list of single-rune atoms that Atom consists of. ISO
atom_codes(Atom, List) Succeeds iff List is the list of runes that Atom consists of. ISO
char_code(Char, Code) Succeeds iff Char is a single-rune atom which rune is Code. ISO
number_chars(Number, List) Succeeds iff List is the list of single-rune atoms that represents Number. ISO
number_codes(Number, List) Succeeds iff List is the list of runes that represents Number. ISO

Implementation defined hooks

set_prolog_flag(Flag, Value) Sets the Prolog flag Flag to Value. ISO
- Flag is either:
  - char_conversion Value is either on or off (default).
  - debug Value is either on or off (default).
  - unknown Value is either error (default), fail, or warning.
  - double_quotes Value is either chars (default), codes, or atom.
current_prolog_flag(Flag, Value) Succeeds iff Value is the current value for the Prolog flag Flag. ISO
- Flag is either:
  - bounded Value is always true.
  - max_integer Value is always 9223372036854775807.
  - min_integer Value is always -9223372036854775808.
  - integer_rounding_function Value is always toward_zero.
  - char_conversion Value is either on or off (default).
  - debug Value is either on or off (default).
  - max_arity Value is always unbounded.
  - unknown Value is either error (default), fail, or warning.
  - double_quotes Value is either chars (default), codes, or atom.
halt(X) Exists the host program with the status code of X. ISO
halt Equivalent to halt(0). ISO

Definite clause grammars

expand_term(In, Out) Succeeds iff Out is an expansion of the term In.
phrase(Phrase, List, Remainder) Succeeds iff the different list List-Remainder satisfies the grammar rule Phrase.
phrase(Phrase, List) Equivalent to phrase(Phrase, List, []).

List processing

member(X, L) Succeeds iff X is a member of the list L. prologue
append(Xs, Ys, Zs) Succeeds iff Zs is the concatenation of Xs and Ys. prologue
length(List, Length) Succeeds iff Length is the length of List. prologue
select(X, Xs, Ys) Succeeds iff X is an element of Xs and Ys is Xs with one occurence of X removed. prologue
maplist(Goal, List1, ..., Listn) n = 1..7. Succeeds iff List1, ..., Listn are the list of the same length and call(Goal, List1_i, ..., Listn_i) succeeds for all the i-th elements of List1, ..., Listn. prologue
nth0(N, List, Elem) Succeeds iff Elem is the N-th element of List counting from 0.
nth1(N, List, Elem) Succeeds iff Elem is the N-th element of List counting from 1.

Program

consult(File) Loads Prolog program files indicated by File. File is either an atom or a list of atoms. An atom abc indicates a Prolog program file ./abc or ./abc.pl.
[File|Files] Equivalent to consult([File|Files]).

Operating system interface

environ(Name, Value) Succeeds iff the environment variable Name has the value Value.

Extensions

predicates: Native predicates for ichiban/prolog.

License

Distributed under the MIT license. See LICENSE for more information.

Contributing

See ARCHITECTURE.md for architecture details.

Fork it (https://github.com/ichiban/prolog/fork)
Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/fooBar)
Commit your changes (git commit -am 'Add some fooBar')
Push to the branch (git push origin feature/fooBar)
Create a new Pull Request

Acknowledgments

A PORTABLE PROLOG COMPILER (Bowen et al. 83)
ISO Prolog works by Prof. Ulrich Neumerkel
SWI Prolog and its documentation
GNU Prolog and its documentation

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