The Art of PROLOG: Advanced Programming Techniques

This, to me, is one of the 4 best books on computer programming. Unfortunately, it is hard. Not because the book is poorly written - it is like a wonderful story, but because understanding how to think declaratively after being taught something like C or Java is like someone giving you a pair of wings when you're a mudfish. Thinking declaratively changes how you think about problems and how you write code. It's a career changing experience. This book leads the way. Top 4: * Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (Sussman, Abelson) * The Art of Prolog by Sterling/Shapiro * Introduction to Algorithms by Cormen, etc. * Concepts, Techniques, and Models of Computer Programming by Van Roy and Haridi

This book is a must for anyone starting to program in Prolog or interested in logic programming. A downsize of the book (if any) can be that it could have detailed more in the respect of Prolog's applications. The pleasant style of the authors would have made a wonderful introduction into these fields. A real pleasure to read.

If you have previous programming experience, Prolog will be quite a challenge. Logic programming is very different from functional or imperative, and will definitely be a major culture shock.The first part of the book introduces the concepts of logic programming at the right pace, giving you time to assimilate everything. The second part contains several applications of Prolog.This is a great first book on Prolog and will certainly help you `getting it'.

I bought this book for the cover (it's good enough to keep on a coffee table), and stayed for the code. My favorite part of the book is Part II, where the Prolog language is described. I learned Prolog from the Clocksin and Mellish book, but never really "got it" until I went through The Art of Prolog.

I can't think of a single bad thing to say about this book. The writing is clear, the examples numerous and interesting, and topics are covered thoroughly. There are exercises of various levels of difficulty. Very suitable for self study.