4 ms·
Ask HN: Good books to learn Prolog?
I'm on a quest to if not actively programm in it but at least take a look at different programming paradigms.
One of the few things missing are logic programming languages.
There are quite a bunch of books about Prolog, which is good on the one hand but on the other it renders it difficult to pick one to read. :D
I'd prefer a book that doesn't start with very basic stuff, eg explaining loops, if-statements and what not, I know that already. ;)
"Programming Erlang" by Joe Armstrong was really perfect in that regard.
So, dear HN, do you have any recommendations?
Or maybe there is something better to check out than Prolog?
- jherdman 17y agoProlog is a pretty neat language. It feels really strange at first, but as you grow used to its weirdness, it becomes much more enjoyable. I learned Prolog in university using the book "Prolog Programming in Depth", by Michael A. Covington, Donald Nute, and André Vellino. Frankly, I didn't use the book all that much. It was a handy reference now and then, but it wasn't essential. Perhaps there's some good tutorials online?
- sb 17y agoone of the best texts around is "the art of prolog, advanced programming techniques" 2nd edition, by leon sterling and ehud shapiro. however, by now, it seems a bit dated (e.g. on the constraint logic programming side), so there is another recommendable text "programming prolog for artifical intelligence" by ivan bratko so if you can afford, i would recommend both texts for self-study.
- plinkplonk 17y ago"one of the best texts around is "the art of prolog, advanced programming techniques" 2nd edition, by leon sterling and ehud shapiro." Seconded. This is a really good book, though a bit hard to find, the last time I checked.
- shaunxcode 17y agoI got mine right off of amazon - and yesterday I noticed you can buy it straight from the MIT press page as well. http://www.amazon.com/Art-Prolog-Second-Programming-Techniques/dp/0262193388/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255013296&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/Art-Prolog-Second-Programming-Techniqu... (if you click on the used link there is a hardback going for 13 bucks right now) http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=6945 http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&... (they use asp..? regardless brand new hardback for 65)
- plinkplonk 17y agohey Thanks I didn't know new copies were available. I have a falling-to-pieces used copy.
- JustAGeek 17y agoThanks will check them out! :)
- steve19 17y agoI have got a copy of "The Art of Prolog" sitting on my desk :) It is pretty good, but I agree with you, it is dated.
- BigO 17y agoif statements and loops in prolog oh man
- JustAGeek 17y agoMaybe it could've occurred to you that I don't know Prolog yet, thus my post here. :P
- mahmud 17y agoHow good is your Lisp? LISA does forward chaining within CLOS, so you always have a real language on standby when you need one. JESS has Java. Prolog: what a frustrating language to use in the Real World and what a delightful lab language.
- fogus 17y agoI loved Prolog Programming for Artificial Intelligence by Ivan Bratko.
- jonjacky 17y ago"Clause and Effect" by Clocksin. Also, the worked exercises at Ninety-Nine Prolog Problems, https://prof.ti.bfh.ch/hew1/informatik3/prolog/p-99/ https://prof.ti.bfh.ch/hew1/informatik3/prolog/p-99/
- JustAGeek 17y agoThanks everybody for the suggestions!