Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!seismo!hao!hplabs!sri-unix!SHardy@SRI-KL.ARPA From: SHardy@SRI-KL.ARPA Newsgroups: net.ai Subject: Prolog For The Vax Message-ID: <2163@sri-arpa.UUCP> Date: Sun, 12-Jun-83 22:44:10 EDT Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.2163 Posted: Sun Jun 12 22:44:10 1983 Date-Received: Thu, 16-Jun-83 19:02:18 EDT Lines: 55 [Reprinted from the Prolog Digest.] Implementation For VAX/VMS The Sussex Poplog system is a multi-language programming environment for AI tasks. It includes: (a) A native mode Prolog compiler, compatible with the Clocksin and Mellish book. The system supports floating point arithmetic. (b) A POP-11 compiler. POP-11 and Prolog programs may share data structures and may call each other as subroutines; they may also co-routine with each other. (POP is the British derivative of LISP; functionally equivalent to Lisp, it has a more conventional syntax.) (c) VED, an Emacs like extendible editor, is part of the run time system. VED is written in POP-11 and so can easily be extended. It can also be used for input (e.g. simple menus) and for output (simple cellular graphics). VED and the compilers share memory, making for a well integrated programming environment. (d) Subroutines written in other languages, e.g. Fortran, may be linked in as new built in predicates. Prolog's complex architecture was designed to help build blackboard systems working on large amounts of numerical data. The intention is that Fortran (or a similar language) be used for array processing; POP-11 will be used for manipulating agendas and other procedurally oriented tasks and Prolog will be used for logical inference. However, the components of Prolog can be used individually without knowledge of the other components. To some users, Poplog is simply a powerful text editor, to others it just a Prolog system. Poplog has been adopted, along with Franz LISP and DEC-20 Prolog, as part of the "common software base" for the IKBS program (Britain's response to The Fifth Generation). The system is being transported to the PERQ and Motorola 68000, as well as being converted for VAX/UNIX. Although full details haven't yet been announced, the system will be commercially supported. The license fee will be approx $10,000 with maintenance approx. $1,000 per annum. For more details, write to: Dr Aaron Sloman Cognitive Studies Programme University of Sussex Falmer, Brighton, ENGLAND (273) 606755 -- Steve Hardy, Teknowledge