Constraint Logic Programming: Selected Research (Logic Programming)

Constraint logic programming, the notion of computing with partial information, is becoming recognized as a way of dramatically improving on the current generation of programming languages. This collection presents the best of current work on all aspects of constraint logic programming languages, from theory through language implementation. Beginning in the mid-1980s constraint logic programming became a powerful and essential theoretical concept whose first practical application was the development of efficient programming languages based on Prolog. Benhamou and Colmerauer have taken care to illustrate the strong links between current research and existing CLP languages. The first part of the book focuses on significant theoretical studies that propose general models for constraint programming, and the two following parts develop current ideas on themes derived from these languages (numerical constraints, Booleans, and other finite domains). The concluding part on CLP language design gathers work on original constraints and on top-level implementation. Theoretical aspects; Constraints in rational abstract models; Decision procedures for constraint based extensions of datalog; A constraint sequent calculus; Numerical constraints; On the handling of disequations in CLP over linear rational arithmetic; Simplification and elimination of redundant linear arithmetic constraints; Naive solving of non-linear constraints; Algorithms for non-linear algebraic constraints; RISC-CLP (real): logic programming with non-linear constraints over the reals; An application of CAL to robotics; Constraint arithmetic on real intervals; Booleans and other finite domains; Finite domain constraint solving and constraint logic programming; Using local constraints; Using enumerative methods for boolena unification; A study on boolean constraint solvers; Propositional calculus problems in CHIP; How to use symmetries in boolean constraint solving; Boolean algorithms in Prolog III; Logic programming with pseudo-boolean constraints; CLP language design; Functional constraints in CLP languages; The cardinality operator: a new logical connective for constraint logic programming; Residuation and guarded rules for constraint logic programming; Overview of the CHIP compiler system; A metalevel compiler of CLP (FD) and its combination with intelligent backtracking; Meta-level interpretation of CLP (lists)