Logic Programming in the 1970s

摘要

Logic programming emerged in the 1970s from debates concerning procedural versus declarative representations of knowledge in artificial intelligence. In those days, declarative representations were associated mainly with bottom-up proof procedures, such as hyper-resolution. The development of logic programming showed that procedural representations could be obtained by applying top-down proof procedures, such as linear resolution, to declarative representations in logical form. In recent years, logic programming has become more purely declarative, with the development of answer set programming, tabling and the revival of da-talog. These recent developments invite comparison with earlier attempts to reconcile procedural and declarative representations of knowledge, and raise the question whether anything has been lost.