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On the implementation of GNU Prolog

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 December 2011

DANIEL DIAZ ,
SALVADOR ABREU  and
PHILIPPE CODOGNET
DANIEL DIAZ
Affiliation:
University of Paris 1, 90 rue de Tolbiac, 75013 Paris, France (e-mail: [email protected])
SALVADOR ABREU
Affiliation:
Universidade de Évora and Centria FCT/UNL, Largo dos Colegiais 2, 7004-516 Évora, Portugal (e-mail: [email protected])
PHILIPPE CODOGNET
Affiliation:
JFLI, CNRS, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan (e-mail: [email protected])
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Abstract

GNU Prolog is a general-purpose implementation of the Prolog language, which distinguishes itself from most other systems by being, above all else, a native-code compiler which produces stand-alone executables which do not rely on any bytecode emulator or meta-interpreter. Other aspects which stand out include the explicit organization of the Prolog system as a multipass compiler, where intermediate representations are materialized, in Unix compiler tradition. GNU Prolog also includes an extensible and high-performance finite-domain constraint solver, integrated with the Prolog language but implemented using independent lower-level mechanisms. This paper discusses the main issues involved in designing and implementing GNU Prolog: requirements, system organization, performance, and portability issues as well as its position with respect to other Prolog system implementations and the ISO standardization initiative.

Keywords

Prologlogic programming systemGNUISOWAMnative code compilationfinite-domain constraints
Type
Regular Papers
Information
Theory and Practice of Logic Programming , Volume 12 , Special Issue 1-2: Prolog Systems , January 2012 , pp. 253 - 282
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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