The GNU Prolog web site

The GNU Prolog web site
Current stable version is gprolog-1.5.0
Table of contents
GNU Prolog is a free Prolog compiler with constraint solving
over finite domains developed by
Daniel Diaz
GNU Prolog accepts Prolog+constraint programs and produces native
binaries (like gcc does from a C source). The obtained executable is then
stand-alone. The size of this executable can be quite small since GNU Prolog
can avoid to link the code of most unused built-in predicates. The performances
of GNU Prolog are very encouraging (comparable to commercial systems).
Beside the native-code compilation, GNU Prolog offers a classical interactive
interpreter (top-level) with a debugger.
The Prolog part conforms to the ISO standard for Prolog with many
extensions very useful in practice (global variables, OS interface,
sockets,...).
GNU Prolog also includes an efficient constraint solver over Finite
Domains (FD). This opens contraint logic programming to the user combining
the power of constraint programming to the declarativity of logic programming.
Prolog system:
conforms to the ISO standard for Prolog (floating point numbers,
streams, dynamic code,...).
a lot of extensions: global variables, definite clause grammars
(DCG), sockets interface, operating system interface,...
more than 300 Prolog built-in predicates.
Prolog debugger and a low-level WAM debugger.
line editing facility under the interactive interpreter with
completion on atoms.
powerful bidirectional interface between Prolog and C.
Compiler:
native-code compiler producing stand alone executables.
simple command-line compiler accepting a wide variety of files:
Prolog files, C files, WAM files,...
direct generation of assembly code 15 times faster than wamcc
+ gcc.
most of unused built-in predicates are not linked (to reduce
the size of the executables).
compiled predicates (native-code) as fast as wamcc on average.
consulted predicates (byte-code) 5 times faster than wamcc.
Constraint solver:
FD variables well integrated into the Prolog environment (full
compatibility with Prolog variables and integers). No need for explicit
FD declarations.
very efficient FD solver (comparable to commercial solvers).
high-level constraints can be described in terms of simple primitives.
a lot of predefined constraints: arithmetic constraints, boolean
constraints, symbolic constraints, reified constraints,...
several predefined enumeration heuristics.
the user can define his own new constraints.
more than 50 FD built-in constraints/predicates.
The GNU Prolog compiler is based on the Warren Abstract Machine
(WAM). It first compiles a Prolog program to a WAM file which is then
translated to a low-level machine independent language called mini-assembly
specifically designed for GNU Prolog. The resulting file is then translated
to the assembly language of the target machine (from which an object is
obtained). This allows GNU Prolog to produce a native stand alone executable
from a Prolog source (similarly to what does a C compiler from a C program).
The main advantage of this compilation scheme is to produce native code
and to be fast. Another interesting feature is that executables are small.
Indeed, the code of most unused built-in predicates can be excluded from
the executables at link-time.
GNU Prolog also includes an efficient constraint solver over Finite
Domains (FD). The key feature of the GNU Prolog solver is the use of a single
(low-level) primitive to define all (high-level) FD constraints. There are
many advantages of this approach: constraints can be compiled, the user can
define his own constraints (in terms of the primitive), the solver is open
and extensible (as opposed to black-box solvers like CHIP),...Moreover, the
GNU Prolog solver is rather efficient, often more than commercial solvers.
GNU Prolog is inspired by two systems developed by the same author:
wamcc
: a Prolog to C compiler. the key point of wamcc
was its ability to produce stand alone executables using an original compilation
scheme: the translation of Prolog to C via the WAM. Its drawback was the
time needed by gcc to compile the produced sources. GNU Prolog can also
produce standalone executables but using a faster compilation scheme.
clp(FD)
: a constraint programming language over FD. Its
key feature was the use of a single primitive to define FD constraints.
GNU Prolog is based on the same idea but extends the power of primitive to
make it possible more complex constraint definitions. In comparison to clp(FD),
GNU Prolog offers new predefined constraints, new predefined heuristics, reified
constraints,...
The development of GNU Prolog started in January 1996 under the name
Calypso.
Currently the following architectures are supported:
ix86 / GNU/Linux
ix86 / Win32 using Cygwin (see file src/WINDOWS-OLD)
ix86 / Win32 using MinGW (see file src/WINDOWS-OLD)
ix86 / Win32 using MSVC++ (see file src/WINDOWS-OLD)
ix86 / SCO
ix86 / Solaris
ix86 / FreeBSD
ix86 / OpenBSD
ix86 / NetBSD
ix86 / Darwin (Mac OS X)
x86_64 / GNU/Linux
x86_64 / Solaris
x86_64 / Win64 using MinGW64 (see file src/WINDOWS)
x86_64 / Win64 using MSVC++ (see file src/WINDOWS)
x86_64 / Darwin (Mac OS X)
PowerPC / GNU/Linux
PowerPC / Darwin (Mac OS X)
PowerPC / NetBSD
sparc / SunOS (4.1.3 or higher)
sparc / Solaris
sparc / NetBSD
alpha / GNU/Linux
alpha / OSF1
mips / irix
arm 32bits / GNU/Linux (armv6, armv7)
arm 64bits (aarch64)/ GNU/Linux (armv8)
arm 64bits (aarch64) / Darwin (Mac OS X) (armv8)
If you are interested in porting GNU Prolog to another architecture
read the PORTING file in src.
You can consult the following files:
This manual is available in the following formats:
We provide both source and binary distributions for GNU Prolog.
Source distributions:
Binary distributions:

Other versions:

Some of these files can also be downloaded from the primary
GNU ftp site
or from any
mirror
The
GIT repository
is hosted by GitHub.
For windows users, a Notepad++ User Defined Lanuage
(UDL)
profile file for GNU Prolog
(also
available from the
Notepad++
wiki about UDL
). To install: launch Notepad++, in the "Language" menu,
chose "Define your own language", click on "Import" and select the downloaded .xml
file. Then close and restart Notepad++. Files suffixed with ".pl" and ".pro" should
be now recognized as Prolog files (else select "Prolog (GNU)" from the "Languages"
menu). For more information see
the
Notepad++
wiki
GNU Prolog is present on the
Black Duck Open Hub site
Contributions are welcome. If you want to include your contribution
please post a mail to
users-prolog@gnu.org
(for more information on this list
click here
).
Here is a list of available contributions:
Bedevere
- a SWIG wrapper
CLIP
- a
CLP(Intervals) interpreter
CLPGUI
- a graphical user interface for CLP
cTI
- a constrained-based
left Termination Inference tool for ISO-Prolog
GNU Prolog/CX
- an extension of GNU Prolog for Contextual Logic Programming
gnuprolog-json
- a GNU Prolog JSON library
gnuprolog-redisclient
- a GNU Prolog redis client
gprolog-rh
- an extension of gprolog with attributed variables, coroutinings and CLP
over reals
Logtalk
- Object Oriented
extension to Prolog
Muscle
PS/SC
- an interface to the Muscle PC/SC library
MySQL/Prolog
- an interface to MySQL database
ODBC/Prolog
a small ODBC interface module for gprolog
XGP
- a Mac OS X IDE
connecting gprolog and Cocoa
CGI programming
- an introduction to CGI-Programming with GNU-Prolog
The mailing list
users-prolog@gnu.org
: is for communicating
with other GNU Prolog users and/or implementors:
The mailing list
bug-prolog@gnu.org
: is for reporting
bugs:
To inform other uses send a mail to
bug-prolog@gnu.org
To (un)subscribe to this list send a mail to
bug-prolog-request@gnu.org
with (un)subscribe in the subject line.
You can also (un)subscribe via the web at
From the same site you can also
browse the archive
Bug reports are crucial for our work. If we don't know about
problems, we cannot fix them. On the other hand it is a waste of time to
read/check/answer for bugs which are not bugs ! Please consult the manual
(an
on-line version
is available). If you
can try to check if the bug occurs with the last unstable version (
all
unstable versions are here
). If you already use the last unstable
version try
the
last stable version
. When you are sure you have discovered a bug,
please report it to
bug-prolog@gnu.org
(for more information on this list
click here
).
Your report should include all these things:
The type of machine you are using (use uname -a under Unix).
GNU Prolog version (use gprolog --version).
The operands given to the `configure' and the output of the configuration
if the bug concerns the compilation/installation phase.
The complete text of any files needed to reproduce the bug. Try
to obtain a minimal example showing the bug.
The precise commands we need to type to reproduce the bug.
A description of what behavior you observe that you believe is
incorrect.
If you wish to mention something in the GNU Prolog source, show
the line of code with a few lines of context.  Do not just give a line
number.
Copyright (C) 1999-2021 Daniel Diaz
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted
in any medium, provided this notice is preserved.