The Howdy Glossary

Prolog is a programming language employed in artificial intelligence and computational linguistics, leveraging first-order logic to establish relationships between objects. It uses automated reasoning for problem-solving, unifying predicates in queries with those in its knowledge base to find solutions efficiently. This makes Prolog excel at creating expert systems, natural language parsers, and rule-based systems by logically representing real-world scenarios.

Developed in the 1970s by Alain Colmerauer's team in Marseille, France, Prolog was initially a computational linguistic tool for natural language understanding and translation. Over time, it has gained prominence in artificial intelligence and logic programming due to its capabilities in formal definition of relations and logical deduction. The resolution process that helps unify predicates sets Prolog apart as particularly adept at modeling real-world situations through expert systems and natural language processing.

Prolog's competitors include Lisp, Haskell, and Python; each has unique strengths within AI applications. Lisp focuses on symbolic computation; Haskell emphasizes a strong type system with functional paradigms; Python offers extensive libraries for machine learning. However, Prolog distinguishes itself through its specialized focus on automated reasoning using resolution based on first-order logic—a feature that makes it ideal for problems requiring precise relationship definitions between objects. Its structured approach allows efficient logical representation of complex scenarios, providing significant advantages over other languages when developing expert systems or conducting natural language parsing.