4 ms·

An online IDE for visual programming in Prolog

167 points by triska 4y ago

mncharity 4y ago
The blog[1] has getting started info for the current IDE[2]. It uses Tau Prolog[3]. [1] https://toblotron.com/blog/ https://toblotron.com/blog/ [2] https://toblotron.com/praxis/0.1.0/ https://toblotron.com/praxis/0.1.0/ [3] http://tau-prolog.org/ http://tau-prolog.org/
simplify 4y ago
This is really cool! I was just thinking the other day, it would be nice to have Prolog-like interactions for excel/tabular data. Excel is useful, but getting insights into data relationships can be hard or impossible for certain queries. This is exactly what I was thinking. Can't wait to play around with it.
jomoho 4y ago
It would be helpful to have a tutorial how to use the IDE, preferably a video, I just spent 10 minutes with it and can't seem to figure it out. I doubt that it's a lack of intelligence on my side. Even though, one never knows. I also got some 404 for some css files
- imglorp 4y ago
  I can't either. The blog and screenshot show a dark grid canvas but I can't get that far, just the three panes with the project setup, the query pane, and what might be a module browser.
  - mdaniel 4y ago
    Right-click on the modelName in the right-hand pane, choose "Add rules page", then click on the "Page nr0" that appears under it Beyond that, I'm with you that this thing needs a tutorial --- ah-hah: buried in the blog noise is a link to the example data, which boots up into the rules view: https://toblotron.com/praxis/0.1.0/?exampleModel=family.0.1.0 https://toblotron.com/praxis/0.1.0/?exampleModel=family.0.1....
    - imglorp 4y ago
      yep thank you
cm2187 4y ago
I am curious who is the target audience. I find that visual programming tends to address a very narrow audience of people who are ready to invest a lot of time to learn a tool, but will not learn simple syntax like sql or python.
- mattigames 4y ago
  Pretty sure "Blueprints" by Unreal Engine is a visual programming tool used by a lot of people that know the syntax of various programming languages but still use it because the iteration time is a lot better than the C++ counterpart, as well as less verbose, or/and to avoid all the strict typing needed in that language.
  - knome 4y ago
    I was curious what the blueprints looked like and did a google image search for screenshots of them. It brought up a unity forum post that does not make them look very palatable. https://forum.unity.com/threads/unreal-engine-5-game-changer.889501/page-26#post-5879353 https://forum.unity.com/threads/unreal-engine-5-game-changer...
    - codetrotter 4y ago
      National Instruments LabVIEW is another example of graphical programming. https://www.ni.com/en-no/shop/labview.html https://www.ni.com/en-no/shop/labview.html LabVIEW is not appealing to me. But I know people and companies that swear by it. We should admit that even though we may not like all examples of graphical programming that we’ve seen, there are a lot of people out there successfully relying on graphical programming to get their work done. I continue to think that there may be graphical programming tools out there that may appeal to me also. Haven’t tried OP tool yet but maybe I will like it. There are some tools that work in similar ways that I like, such as for example the nodes editor in Blender.
      - liketochill 4y ago
        Yeah I love function block programming for control systems.
jimmySixDOF 4y ago
There is visual programming and then there is Primitive.io >At Primitive, we believe that collaboration and immersive visualization are the future of software development. The arrival of virtual reality has provided a groundbreaking new platform to visualize data and collaborate in advanced ways. The Primitive Immersive Development Environment is taking advantage of everything that collaboration in VR can offer while applying new tools for visually analyzing software in 3D.
yodsanklai 4y ago
Just curious, who uses Prolog nowadays, and what type of application?
- rurban 4y ago
  People who need to solve problems. Operations research, optimizations, routing, all the classical AI problems.

167 points by triska 4y ago

The blog[1] has getting started info for the current IDE[2]. It uses Tau Prolog[3]. [1] https://toblotron.com/blog/ https://toblotron.com/blog/ [2] https://toblotron.com/praxis/0.1.0/ https://toblotron.com/praxis/0.1.0/ [3] http://tau-prolog.org/ http://tau-prolog.org/

simplify 4y ago

This is really cool! I was just thinking the other day, it would be nice to have Prolog-like interactions for excel/tabular data. Excel is useful, but getting insights into data relationships can be hard or impossible for certain queries. This is exactly what I was thinking. Can't wait to play around with it.

jomoho 4y ago

It would be helpful to have a tutorial how to use the IDE, preferably a video, I just spent 10 minutes with it and can't seem to figure it out. I doubt that it's a lack of intelligence on my side. Even though, one never knows. I also got some 404 for some css files

imglorp 4y ago
I can't either. The blog and screenshot show a dark grid canvas but I can't get that far, just the three panes with the project setup, the query pane, and what might be a module browser.
- mdaniel 4y ago
  Right-click on the modelName in the right-hand pane, choose "Add rules page", then click on the "Page nr0" that appears under it Beyond that, I'm with you that this thing needs a tutorial --- ah-hah: buried in the blog noise is a link to the example data, which boots up into the rules view: https://toblotron.com/praxis/0.1.0/?exampleModel=family.0.1.0 https://toblotron.com/praxis/0.1.0/?exampleModel=family.0.1....
  - imglorp 4y ago
    yep thank you

cm2187 4y ago

I am curious who is the target audience. I find that visual programming tends to address a very narrow audience of people who are ready to invest a lot of time to learn a tool, but will not learn simple syntax like sql or python.

mattigames 4y ago
Pretty sure "Blueprints" by Unreal Engine is a visual programming tool used by a lot of people that know the syntax of various programming languages but still use it because the iteration time is a lot better than the C++ counterpart, as well as less verbose, or/and to avoid all the strict typing needed in that language.
- knome 4y ago
  I was curious what the blueprints looked like and did a google image search for screenshots of them. It brought up a unity forum post that does not make them look very palatable. https://forum.unity.com/threads/unreal-engine-5-game-changer.889501/page-26#post-5879353 https://forum.unity.com/threads/unreal-engine-5-game-changer...
  - codetrotter 4y ago
    National Instruments LabVIEW is another example of graphical programming. https://www.ni.com/en-no/shop/labview.html https://www.ni.com/en-no/shop/labview.html LabVIEW is not appealing to me. But I know people and companies that swear by it. We should admit that even though we may not like all examples of graphical programming that we’ve seen, there are a lot of people out there successfully relying on graphical programming to get their work done. I continue to think that there may be graphical programming tools out there that may appeal to me also. Haven’t tried OP tool yet but maybe I will like it. There are some tools that work in similar ways that I like, such as for example the nodes editor in Blender.
    - liketochill 4y ago
      Yeah I love function block programming for control systems.

jimmySixDOF 4y ago

There is visual programming and then there is Primitive.io >At Primitive, we believe that collaboration and immersive visualization are the future of software development. The arrival of virtual reality has provided a groundbreaking new platform to visualize data and collaborate in advanced ways. The Primitive Immersive Development Environment is taking advantage of everything that collaboration in VR can offer while applying new tools for visually analyzing software in 3D.

yodsanklai 4y ago

Just curious, who uses Prolog nowadays, and what type of application?

rurban 4y ago
People who need to solve problems. Operations research, optimizations, routing, all the classical AI problems.