Using SICStus Prolog

This Prolog course uses an implementation of Prolog called SICStus Prolog. This was developed and is distributed by the Swedish Institute of Computer Science. It is a member of the family of implementations of Prolog known as "Edinburgh Prolog" and is widely used in academic institutions and industry. It is ISO/IEC 13211-1 ("ISO Prolog") compliant.

At first all you will need to know is how to start up the Prolog software. Later, you will need to write your own programs and so will use an editor. This guide shows you how to use Prolog and how to create and edit files. For more extensive information, consult the SICStus Prolog manual held on the School of Computer Science intranet.

If you are using SICStus Prolog under Unix, then the first time you use this documentation, you should read and follow the instructions given in:

• Preparing to use Prolog for the first time

In the earliest stages of learning Prolog, you need to be familiar with:

• Starting the Prolog interpreter
• Executing Prolog queries
• Halting and leaving the Prolog interpreter

There are two ways in which you can write programs and run them into Prolog.

1. Run Prolog from within emacs (usually under Unix/linux) - this has the advantage of using emacs to help you see the structure of your program easily.
2. Run Prolog and your editor in separate windows (usually under Windows) - this has the advantage you can use an editor you are familiar with.

As you learn more Prolog, you will need to know about the following:

• Important characters used in Prolog programs
• Keeping a record of the running of your programs
• Using the Prolog debugging package

If you want to use Prolog on a your own computer, you should read:

• Public domain Prologs