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Prolog
by W.F. Clocksin,C.S.
Mellish
Concise presentation of Prolog, June 15, 2000
Prolog is a complex subject, especially for someone not
well familiar with mathematical logic. Thus, it is very
important how the foundation would be laid down.
Typically the books I had read on Prolog tend to two
extremes. They are either too condensed for such a
complicated subject as logical programming, or too broad
and mathematically intensive. I would put this book into
the first category. Though very concise and well
structured, this book does not seem to be a good primer.
I would rather recommend the book of Ivan Bratko "Prolog
Programming for Artificial Intelligence (International
Computer Science Series)" 2nd edition (the third edition
of this book is due in August 2000).
Ivan Bratko had
managed to find the optimal style of presenting both the
essence and the practical aspects of the language.
Bratko's book covers various practical applications of
the language and manages to convey the basic concepts of
Prolog without overwhelming the beginner with too
abstract or too condensed passages.
Nevertheless, "Programming in Prolog" could be a very
good programming reference once you are relatively
comfortable with the language.
by
Ivan Bratko (Author)
- Paperback: 678
pages
- Publisher: Addison
Wesley; 3rd edition (September 8, 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0201403757
- ISBN-13:
978-0201403756
- Product Dimensions:
9.2 x 6.8 x 1.3 inches
- Shipping Weight:
2.5 pounds
I thought the book could be better, December 27, 2001
Reviewer: A reader
I find the book does not adequetly explain the more complex code examples.
First of all the code is not adequetly commented.
Secondly, it does not explain the code well for programmers. First when
introducing a program like in the expert systems shell chapter it should
first define an interface for the program, and explain each goal listed. It
should adequetly explain what each goal and clause should hope to achieve.
Also, for the more complicated programs it should draw some type of diagram,
maybe a flow chart or something that explains the concepts involved. It
leaves too much figuring out and guessing for the reader. It is not very
user-friendly!
On the positive side, it does an adequate job of explaining concepts when
complex code is not involved. I found that I could follow along on even the
more advanced chapters mostly everything at least until code was suddenly
introduced. Then it became a guessing game as to what it was trying to do.
The author does not seem to realize that it is more difficult to try to
understand somebody else's program than it is to write your own program from
scratch. As a consequence the reader wastes a lot of time trying to guess
what his program is doing.
Note: this review is of the 2nd edition and does not necessarily reflect the
3rd. But, then again, every other review on this page prior to mine is about
the 2nd edition as well!
Companion Website PROLOG Programming for Artificial Intelligence
If desired,
all the programs can be downloaded in one archive file:
programs.zip
In order to open the zip file you will need Winzip (available
from
www.winzip.com).
Intelligent Reasoning by Example
by Peter Flach, then
at Tilburg University, the
Netherlands
John Wiley 1994, xvi + 240 pages, ISBN
0471 94152 2
Reprinted: December 1994, July 1998. Currently available via print-on-demand.
Copyright © 1996-2007 by Dr. Nikolai Bezroukov.
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Last modified:
February 28, 2008
based on 5 reviews. (