Programming language · 1972

Prolog

Programming language that uses first order logic.

Prolog logo
FortranWritten in
1972First released
Alain Colmerauer, Robert Kowalski, and Philippe RousselDeveloper
dynamicTyping
Built fromInfluenced Prolog FortranPlannerMercuryErlang
CompilerInfluence

What is Prolog written in?

The Prolog compiler is written in Fortran (documented).

What Prolog is used for

Prolog is the leading logic-programming language, used for artificial intelligence, expert systems, natural-language processing, and theorem proving, you state facts and rules and let the engine search for answers.

Notable use: parts of IBM Watson, scheduling and constraint systems, and academic AI research (often via SWI-Prolog).

Quick Facts

Designed by
Alain Colmerauer, Robert Kowalski, and Philippe Roussel
First released
1972
Typing
dynamic
Filename extension
.pl, .pro, .P

About Prolog

Prolog is a programming language that uses first order logic. It is a dynamically typed language that is executed directly by an interpreter. It supports logic and declarative programming.

Prolog first appeared in 1972 and was designed by Alain Colmerauer, Robert Kowalski, and Philippe Roussel. Prolog is now used mainly in specialized niches and by dedicated communities.

How Prolog is implemented

In the Language Lineage dataset, its compiler is written in Fortran.

Prolog in the language family tree

Prolog drew on ideas from Planner and went on to influence Erlang and Mercury.

Sources: Wikipedia · Wikidata

Frequently Asked Questions

What language is Prolog written in?
Prolog is primarily implemented in Fortran. See the implementation section above for details and source references.
What languages influenced Prolog?
Prolog was influenced by Planner among others. See the influence section above for the full list.
Which languages did Prolog influence?
Prolog influenced Erlang, Mercury among others.
When was Prolog first released?
Prolog was first released in 1972. It was designed by Alain Colmerauer, Robert Kowalski, and Philippe Roussel.

Evidence Sources

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Embed this graph

Paste this iframe into any HTML page to show the Prolog relationship graph.

<iframe src="https://www.languagelineage.org/embed?lang=prolog" width="100%" height="500" loading="lazy" style="border:0" title="Prolog relationship graph"></iframe>

Please attribute the visualization to Language Lineage and link to the Prolog source record.

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