Code difference in Prolog - prolog

What exactly is making these two seemingly identical pieces of code behave differently. My guess is I'm not taking a fundamental Prolog concept into account.
% creates list from X to Y (integers)
interval(X, X, [X]):- !.
interval(X, Y, [X|R]):- X < Y, X1 is X+1, interval(X1, Y, R).
The output from this is as desired, an interval with specific endpoints.
| ?- interval(2,5,L)
L = [2,3,4,5]
yes
But, this piece spits out a different result.
% creates list from X to Y (integers)
interval(X, X, [X]):- !.
interval(X, Y, [X|R]):- X < Y, interval(X+1, Y, R).
Output:
| ?- interval(2,5,L)
no

Related

Prolog program to enumerate all possible solution over a countable set

I am writing a prolog program with can perform Peano arithmetics.
I have standard definitions for natural numbers.
nat(n).
nat(s(N)) :-
nat(N).
Because I want to enumerate all possible relation of addition between natural numbers, I defined an auxiliary function (in order for defining total ordering over the set).
cmp_n(X, Y, lt) :-
nat(Y), % generate a stream : n s(n) s(s(n)) ...
cmp_n_lt_helper(X, Y). % gives all XS smaller than Y
cmp_n_lt_helper(s(X), s(Y)) :-
cmp_n_lt_helper(X, Y).
cmp_n_lt_helper(n, s(Y)) :-
nat(Y).
Then, I defined addition
% need to use a wrapper because I want to generate (n, n, n) first
% if I don't use this warper, it would start from (n, s(n), s(n))
add_n(X, Y, R) :-
nat(R), % same reason as above
cmp_n(X, R, lt),
add_n_helper(X, Y, R).
add_n_helper(s(X), Y, s(R)):-
add_n_helper(X, Y, R).
add_n_helper(n, Y, Y).
If I enumerate all possible relations over this definition of addition, it worked fine. And when outputting a finite set of answers, it can halt.
?- add_n(X, Y, R).
X = Y, Y = R, R = n ;
X = R, R = s(n),
Y = n ;
X = n,
Y = R, R = s(n) ;
X = R, R = s(s(n)),
Y = n ;
X = Y, Y = s(n),
R = s(s(n)) ;
X = n,
Y = R, R = s(s(n)) .
?- add_n(X, Y, s(s(s(s(n))))).
X = s(s(s(s(n)))),
Y = n ;
X = s(s(s(n))),
Y = s(n) ;
X = Y, Y = s(s(n)) ;
X = s(n),
Y = s(s(s(n))) ;
X = n,
Y = s(s(s(s(n)))) ;
false.
These worked fine.
However, if I do the regular forward evaluation,
?- add_n(s(s(s(n))), s(s(n)), R).
R = s(s(s(s(s(n)))))
this program cannot halt.
I am wondering : is there a way to
for any finite answer, give a finite result.
for any infinite answer, fix a specific valid answer, give this specified answer in finite time
As spot properly in the comments and by you as well, you've got a problem in a specific case, when X and Y are defined and R is not.
So let's just solve this case separately without the R generator in that case.
In my implementation (similar to yours)
nat(n).
nat(s(N)) :-
nat(N).
eq_n(n, n) :- !.
eq_n(s(X), s(Y)) :-
eq_n(X, Y), !.
leq_n(n, n).
leq_n(n, Y) :-
nat(Y).
leq_n(s(X), s(Y)) :-
leq_n(X, Y).
movel_n(X, n, X) :- !.
movel_n(X, s(Y), Z) :-
movel_n(s(X), Y, Z), !.
add_n(X, Y, R) :-
( ( var(X)
; var(Y)
),
nat(R),
leq_n(X, R),
leq_n(Y, R)
; \+ var(X),
\+ var(Y), !
),
movel_n(X, Y, Xn),
eq_n(Xn, R).
The most important part for you is the first big or statement of add_n/3.
We're checking there with the var/1 if the variables are instantiated.
If not, we're creating the variables generator,
otherwise, we're just going forward to calculations.

Can I use integers as parameters?

How can I know if a person X is descendant of a person Y given the descendancy degree?
I've tried this:
descendant(X, Y, 1) :- son(X, Y).
descendant(X, Y, Degree) :- son(X, Z) , descendant(Z, Y, Degree-1).
Where son(X, Y) returns yes if X is son of Y. If Degree == 1 it returns the correct answer but for descendant(X, Y, 2), for instance, should return yes if X is grandson of Y but returns no.
1) Naming: Does son(X,Y) mean "X is the son of Y"—or vice-versa?
son_of(X,Y) is better.
2) Exploit successor-arithmetics: We don't need to do general arithmetics here... we only need to count.
So let's start in the beginning...
child_of(abel, adam). % from source
child_of(abel, eve).
child_of(cain, adam).
child_of(cain, eve).
child_of(enoch, cain).
child_of(irad, enoch).
child_of(mehujael, irad).
child_of(methushael, mehujael).
child_of(lamech, methushael).
child_of(jabal, lamech).
child_of(jabal, adah).
child_of(jubal, lamech).
child_of(jubal, adah).
child_of(tubal_cain, lamech).
child_of(tubal_cain, zillah).
child_of(naamah, lamech).
child_of(naamah, zillah).
child_of(seth, adam).
child_of(seth, eve).
child_of(enos, seth).
child_of(kenan, enos).
child_of(mahalalel, kenan).
child_of(jared, mahalalel).
child_of(enoch, jared).
child_of(methuselah, enoch).
child_of(lamech, methuselah).
child_of(noah, lamech).
child_of(shem, noah).
child_of(ham, noah).
child_of(japheth, noah).
Based on child_of/2 we first define ancestor_of/2—this should be nothing new to you!
ancestor_of(Y, Z) :-
child_of(Z, Y). % If Z is a child of Y ...
% then Y is an ancestor of Z.
ancestor_of(X, Z) :-
child_of(Z, Y), % If Z is a child of Y ...
ancestor_of(X, Y). % and X is an ancestor of Y ...
% then X is an ancestor of Z.
Next, we add an additional parameter indicating the distance.
We use s/1 terms to represent natural numbers and add a new argument to ancestor_of/2:
ancestor_of_dist(Y, Z, s(0)) :-
child_of(Z, Y). % If Z is a child of Y ...
% then Y is an ancestor of Z with distance = 1."
ancestor_of_dist(X, Z, s(N)) :-
child_of(Z, Y), % If Z is a child of Y ...
ancestor_of_dist(X, Y, N). % and X is an ancestor of Y with distance N ...
% then X is an ancestor of Z with distance N+1.
So ... who is grandparent of whom?
?- ancestor_of_dist(X, Z, s(s(0))).
X = adam, Z = enoch
; X = eve, Z = enoch
; X = cain, Z = irad
; X = jared, Z = irad
; X = enoch, Z = mehujael
; ...
; X = lamech, Z = japheth
; false.
Prolog is not a functional language. Thus, the Degree-1 term is not interpreted and evaluated as an expression. For Prolog, Degree-1 is just a compound term with two arguments. That can be made clear using the standard write_canonical/1 predicate, which writes a term without using operator notation:
?- write_canonical(Degree-1).
-(_,1)
true.
Write instead:
descendant(X, Y, 1) :-
son(X, Y).
descendant(X, Y, Degree) :-
son(X, Z) ,
descendant(Z, Y, Degree0),
Degree is Degree0 + 1.
The is/2 standard built-in predicate unifies the left argument with the value of the arithmetic expression in the right argument.
P.S. Note that the alternative descendant/3 predicate definition I suggest will solve the problem you described but it is not an efficient definition as it is not a tail-recursive definition. I.e. the recursive call in the second clause is not the last call in the clause body. This issue can be easily solved, however, by using an accumulator.

Find minimum of various predicates

I want to find the minimum value of all permutations called from main predicate. For simplicity, I have removed my entire code, assume that I just want to find the minimum of head elements of all permutations.
appendlist([], X, X).
appendlist([T|H], X, [T|L]) :- appendlist(H, X, L).
permutation([], []).
permutation([X], [X]) :-!.
permutation([T|H], X) :- permutation(H, H1), appendlist(L1, L2, H1), appendlist(L1, [T], X1), appendlist(X1, L2, X).
%min(X, A, B) X is the minimum of A, B
min(X, X, Y) :- X =< Y.
min(Y, X, Y) :- Y < X.
solve([Head|Rest], Head):-
writeln([Head|Rest]).
main :-
Sort = [1, 2, 3],
PrvAns is 1000,
permutation(Sort, X),
solve(X, Here),
min(Ans, Here, PrvAns),
writeln(Ans),
PrvAns = Ans,
!, fail;
true,
writeln(PrvAns).
I want to calculate the minimum on fly for each permutation. Now, permute is working fine, and you can see that solve prints all permutations and even returns the first value Head properly, but PrvAns = Ans is wrong.
Expected output PrvAns : 1
I'm sorry if I didn't understand properly (and tell me, so I can help you), but, you mean something like this?
findMinHead(X,Z):-
findall( Y, ( permutation(X,[Y|_]) ), Z1 ),
min_list(Z1,Z).
in this predicate we find all the Y values where Y is the head of a permutation of X, put all that values in a bag, and then find the min.

program for finding Gcd in Prolog

I tried to write a code in Prolog for finding GCD (without using modulo)
can anyone tell me what's wrong with this program?
gcd(X,Y,Z):- X>=Y, X1=X-Y, gcd(X1,Y,Z).
gcd(X,Y,Z):- X<Y, X1=Y- X, gcd(X1,X,Z).
gcd(0,X,X):- X>0.
As to why the original implementation doesn't work, there are two reasons:
The predicate =/2 is for unification, not arithmetic assignment
The expression X1 = X - Y doesn't subtract Y from X and store the result in X1. Rather, it unifies X1 with the term, -(X,Y). If, for example, X=5 and Y=3, then the result would be, X1=5-3, not X1=2. The solution is to use is/2 which assigns evaluated arithmetic expressions: X1 is X - Y.
Other predicates, besides the base case predicate, successfully match the base case
The clause, gcd(0,X,X) :- X > 0. is a reasonable base case, but it is never attempted because the second clause (gcd(X,Y,Z):- X<Y,...) will always successfully match the same conditions first, leading to infinite recursion and a stack overflow.
One way to fix this is to move the base case to the first clause, and use a cut to avoid backtracking after it successfully executes:
gcd(0, X, X):- X > 0, !.
gcd(X, Y, Z):- X >= Y, X1 is X-Y, gcd(X1,Y,Z).
gcd(X, Y, Z):- X < Y, X1 is Y-X, gcd(X1,X,Z).
This will work now:
| ?- gcd(10,6,X).
X = 2 ? ;
(1 ms) no
| ?- gcd(10,5,X).
X = 5 ? ;
no
(NOTE: the "no" here means no more solutions found after finding the first one)
ADDENDUM
There are still a couple of remaining "gaps" in the above implementation. One is that it doesn't handle gcd(0, 0, R) gracefully (it overflows). Secondly, it doesn't handle negative values. One possible solution would be to elaborate these cases:
gcd(X, Y, Z) :-
X < 0, !,
gcd(-X, Y, Z).
gcd(X, Y, Z) :-
Y < 0, !,
gcd(X, -Y, Z).
gcd(X, 0, X) :- X > 0.
gcd(0, Y, Y) :- Y > 0.
gcd(X, Y, Z) :-
X > Y, Y > 0,
X1 is X - Y,
gcd(Y, X1, Z).
gcd(X, Y, Z) :-
X =< Y, X > 0,
Y1 is Y - X,
gcd(X, Y1, Z).
Try the following instead:
gcd(X, 0, X):- !.
gcd(0, X, X):- !.
gcd(X, Y, D):- X =< Y, !, Z is Y - X, gcd(X, Z, D).
gcd(X, Y, D):- gcd(Y, X, D).
Taken from rosettacode.org on GCD in all kinds of languages.
Prolog code for GCD
gcd(X,Y,G) :- X=Y, G=X.
gcd(X,Y,G) :- X<Y, Y1 is Y-X, gcd(X,Y1,G).
gcd(X,Y,G) :- X>Y ,gcd(Y,X,G).
?- gcd(24,16,G).
G = 8
gc(X,Y,Z):- (
X=0 -> (
Z is Y
);
Y=0 -> (
Z is X
);
X=Y -> (
Z is X
);
X>Y -> (
Y1 is X-Y,
gc(Y1,Y,Z)
);
X<Y->(
Y1 is Y-X,
gc(X,Y1,Z)
)
).
gcd(A,B,X):- B=0,X=A.
gcd(A,B,X):- A>B, gcd(B, A, X).
gcd(A,B,X) :- A<B, T is B mod A, gcd(A, T, X).
prolog answer is:-
gcd(X,0,X).
gcd(X,Y,R):-
Y>0,
X1 is X mod Y,
gcd(Y,X1,R).
Simple and Readable Prolog Code for GCD of Two Numbers using the Euclidean Algorithm.
gcd(A,B,X):- A=0,X=B. % base case
gcd(A,B,X):- B=0,X=A. % base case
gcd(A,B,X):- A>B, gcd(B, A, X).
gcd(A,B,X):- A<B, T is B mod A, gcd(A, T, X).
Query as follows:
gcd(147,210,GCD).
Output:
GCD = 21
This code worked.
gcd(X,X,X).
gcd(X,Y,D):-X<Y, Y1 is Y-X, gcd(X,Y1,D).
gcd(X,Y,D):-Y<X, gcd(Y,X,D).

What do results like Z = [_G305] mean in prolog?

I've got these definitions:
memberx(X, [X|_]).
memberx(X, [_|T]) :- memberx(X, T).
intersectionx([], _, []).
intersectionx([H|T], Y, [_|Z]) :- memberx(H, Y), !, intersectionx(T, Y, Z).
intersectionx([_|T], Y, Z) :- intersectionx(T, Y, Z).
I get the following result:
?- intersectionx([1], [1], Z).
Z = [_G305].
Why doesn't it result in Z = [1]??
Z = [_G305].
means that this answer is true for all terms. That is, it is not
only true for Z = [1] - as you expect, but it is also true for Z = [2].
Clearly, that is not what you expected.
So where is the error? A simple way to detect it is to watch out for anonymous
variables denoted _.
Consider:
intersectionx([H|T], Y, [_|Z]) :- memberx(H, Y), !, intersectionx(T, Y, Z).
^^^
What you have written means that the intersection of a list starting with
H and another list will be (provided the goals on the right hand side
are all true) a list starting with anything... Replace anything by that H!

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