The Howdy Glossary

Poplog is a versatile programming language environment that supports software development across various paradigms, including procedural, object-oriented, logic, and concurrent programming. It facilitates experimentation in artificial intelligence and cognitive science by integrating languages such as Pop-11, Common Lisp, Standard ML, and Prolog in a unified package. This enables researchers and developers to explore different programming approaches and tackle complex problems within a single platform.

Created by the University of Sussex’s Cognitive and Computing Sciences research group led by Dr. Aaron Sloman in the 1970s, Poplog has benefitted from contributions from various researchers over the years. It was designed to be a comprehensive environment for developing software systems across multiple paradigms while facilitating innovative research in AI and cognitive science. Its unique strength lies in its ability to support these diverse paradigms simultaneously within one integrated setting.

Competitors like Eclipse with plugins for different languages, JetBrains’ suite of IDEs such as IntelliJ IDEA and PyCharm, and Microsoft Visual Studio offer robust multi-language support but each has its distinct strengths. What sets Poplog apart is its targeted emphasis on AI and cognitive science through the inclusion of specialized languages like Pop-11 alongside Common Lisp, Standard ML, and Prolog. This breadth of features provides significant advantages for developers seeking a platform capable of supporting varied programming needs efficiently in both academic research and practical application contexts.