Comp 280 Prolog Page

Reference Material

• The XSB homepage (this is the Prolog implementation that we are using). You can download the system to your own computer if you wish.

• Introduction to Prolog An Introduction to Prolog in XSB by one of designers of XSB. Chapter 2 (the one called "Introduction to Prolog") is relevant to the first assignment. Later assignments will touch on material from Chapter 3.

• Another Prolog Tutorial. Note that this tutorial uses a different implementation of Prolog, so implementation-specific details may not apply. The defined operators, syntax, etc, should all carry over however.

• A good summary of built-in operators and Prolog syntax. Thanks for Justin for pointing this one out.

Using XSB prolog

The XSB prolog executable is in ~comp280/Tools/XSB/bin/xsb on owlnet.

The XSB manual is in ~comp280/Tools/XSB/docs/userman/manual1.ps. Do not print out the entire manual. For now, you only need chapter 2, which explains how to run the system (starting with section 2.3 on page 9).

Miscellaneous Notes

• Use capital letters to start variable names. I've been getting errors when I use variable names starting with lowercase letters.

• To get multiple answers to a query, enter a comma after each answer produced. XSB will say "no" when it has generated all possible answers.

• Typing "halt." (without the "") exists the system.

Questions?

Post questions about learning to use Prolog on the course newsgroup. Since you are all learning the system, you can teach each other a lot from your individual experiences. Don't hesitate to post answers to other students' questions!