Grammatical View of Logic Programming

Within the field of logic programming there have been numerous attempts to transform grammars into logic programmes. This book describes a complementary approach that views logic programmes as grammars and shows how this new presentation of the foundations of logic programming, based on the notion of proof trees, can enrich the field. The authors' approach facilitates discussion of grammatical aspects of, and introduces new kinds of semantics for, definite programmes.

They survey relevant grammatical formalisms and provide a comprehensive introduction to the well-known attribute grammars and van Wijngaarden grammars. A formal comparison of definite programmes to these grammars allows the authors to identify grammatical concepts. The book also includes a presentation of verification methods for definite programmes derived from verification methods for attribute grammars, and an analysis of the occur-check problem as an example of how the grammatical view of logic programming can be applied.