How does the recursing work in prolog for adding number - prolog

My aim is to take the numbers between X and Y and produce Z.
num_between(3,6, All)
For example, if X is 3 and Y is 6 then Z is a list of the numbers between X and Y inclusive. Something like num_between(3,6,[3,4,5,6]) should evaluate as true. Here's what I have so far:
num_between(0,0, []).
num_between(X,Y, All) :-
increase(X, New) , % increase number X++
\+(X = Y) , % check if X is not equal to Y
num_between(New,Y,[All|X]) . % requestion ???
increase(F,N) :- N is F+1 .
increase/1 is working and returns number that is required, but
when recursion is gone through num_between/3 it goes unlit: X is 6 then it fails as I want,
but I can not manage to keep numbers or to return them. All = [3,4,5,6].
All = All + F. Could anyone help please.

Your base clause is incorrect: since you never decrease X or Y, they would never get to zero (unless Y starts at zero, and X starts at a non-positive value). The base clause should look like this:
num_between(X, Y, []) :- X > Y.
This ensures that you get an empty result when the user enters an invalid "backward" range (say, from 6 to 3).
Now to the main clause: all you need to do is to check that the range is valid, get the next value, and make a recursive call, like this:
num_between(X, Y, [X|Tail]) :-
X =< Y,
Next is X + 1,
num_between(Next, Y, Tail).
Demo.
Your original code made an error when constructing a list - it tried to use X as the "tail" of the list, which is incorrect:
num_between(New,Y,[All|X]).
you pass on All, the result after an "expansion", down through the recursive chain of invocation. It should be the other way around - you need to pass in a Tail to collect the result, and then pre-pend X to it when the recursive invocation is over.

You have to change both your base case and your recursive clause:
num_between(X, X, [X]).
num_between(X, Y, [X|L]):-
X < Y,
increase(X, New),
num_between(New, Y, L).
First clause is the base case, it states that the number ranging from X and X is just [X].
The recursive clause states that a number X which is less than a number Y should have it in the output list (thus the [X|L] in the third argument of the head), then it increases the value (i'm just using your helper procedure for that) and recursively calling itself now with the New value for the first argument.

I would write this along these lines:
numbers_between( X , X , [X] ) . % if X and Y have converged, we have the empty list
numbers_between( X , Y , [X|Zs] ) :- % otherwise, add X to the result list
X < Y , % - assuming X is less than Y
X1 is X+1 , % - increment X
numbers_between(X1,Y,Zs) % - recurse down
. %
numbers_between( X , Y , [X|Zs] ) :- % otherwise, add X to the result list
X > Y , % - assuming X > Y
X1 is X-1 , % - decrement X
numbers_between(X1,Y,Zs) % - recurse down
. %

Related

Summation of prolog predicates not working

Like the title states, I am trying to return the sum of the returned values from sub predicates but it's not working. Here is my code:
addlistnum([],[],X).
addlistnum(digits(Y,[A|T]),digits(F,[B|T]),X) :-
X is Y + F.
digits(Num, List) :-
digits(0, List, Num).
digits(Num, [], Num).
digits(N, [A|As], Num) :-
N1 is N * 10 + A,
digits(N1, As, Num).
The sub predicate works fine. It converts list to an integer. Now I want to sum the converted values.
Example:
?- digits(X,[3,3,3]).
X = 333. % works as expected
Building on that, addlistnum([3,3,3,3],[2,2,2],X) is supposed to produce X = 3555 (as 3555 is 3333 + 222), but I get false instead.
I also tried:
addlistnum([],[],X).
addlistnum([A|T],[B|T],X) :-
X is Y + F,
digits(Y,[A|T]),
digits(F,[B|T]).
It simply returns false, which gives no information about is wrong.
Problem is at these rules:
addlistnum([],[],X).
addlistnum(digits(Y,[A|T]),digits(F,[B|T]),X) :-
X is Y + F.
Second one is, "addition of two list is the addition of the integer conversion of these list":
addlistnum(A,B,X) :-
digits(NA,A),
digits(NB,B),
X is NA + NB.
first one is not necessary, "digits" for an empty list is zero, thus, this rule also covers "addition of two empty list is zero"

int_log2(X,Y) which sets Y to the integer log2 of X, where X is assumed to be a nonnegative integer

I got the following task:
int_log2(X,Y) which sets Y to the integer log2 of X, where X is assumed to be a non-negative integer. For example int_log(133,X) will set X to 7. The integer log base 2 of X means the number of times you divide Xby 2 to get down to one. Where divide means integer division. Use nothing more than + and div to code it.
This is what I got so far. I am not 100% sure if I should do it like this. When I run query int_log(133,Z), it only shows answer in true or false.
div(0,X).
div(X,Z) :- X \=0, X1 is X-1, div(X1,W), Z is floor(X/2).
int_log(0,X).
int_log(X,Z) :- X \= 0, X1 is X-1, int_log(X1,W), div(W,Z).
As it is with such exercises, the problem statement already contains the answer.
X is assumed to be a non-negative integer
% precondition( integer(X) ).
% precondition( X > 0 ).
... the number of times you divide X by 2 to get down to one
int_log2(1, 0).
int_log2(X, Y) :-
... the number of times you divide X by 2...
... Use nothing more than + and div to code it.
X0 is X div 2, % used `div`
int_log2(X0, Y0),
Y is Y0 + 1. % used `+`
So this works like this:
?- int_log2(133, X).
X = 7 .
?- int_log2(256, X).
X = 8 .
?- int_log2(255, X).
X = 7 .
What will happen if you try to look for more solutions? Where does the choice point come from? How can you get rid of it? How can you get rid of it without using a cut?
Is this for a math course or a "Prolog" course? If it is meant to teach you Prolog, you will have a bad time.
As for how one would solve it: if you are using an implementation that has the arithmetic function msb(), you just say:
Y is msb(X).
for example:
?- X is msb(133).
X = 7.
?- X is msb(256).
X = 8.

Prolog Ending a Recursion

countdown(0, Y).
countdown(X, Y):-
append(Y, X, Y),
Y is Y-1,
countdown(X, Y).
So for this program i am trying to make a countdown program which will take Y a number and count down from say 3 to 0 while adding each number to a list so countdown(3, Y). should produce the result Y=[3,2,1]. I can't seem the end the recursion when i run this and i was wondering if anyone could help me?
I cant seem to get this code to work any help? I seem to be getting out of global stack so I dont understand how to end the recursion.
Your original code
countdown( 0 , Y ) .
countdown( X , Y ) :-
append(Y, X, Y),
Y is Y-1,
countdown(X, Y).
has some problems:
countdown(0,Y). doesn't unify Y with anything.
Y is Y-1 is trying to unify Y with the value of Y-1. In Prolog, variables, once bound to a value, cease to be variable: they become that with which they were unified. So if Y was a numeric value, Y is Y-1 would fail. If Y were a variable, depending on your Prolog implementation, it would either fail or throw an error.
You're never working with lists. You are expecting append(Y,X,Y) to magically produce a list.
A common Prolog idiom is to build lists as you recurse along. The tail of the list is passed along on each recursion and the list itself is incomplete. A complete list is one in which the last item is the atom [], denoting the empty list. While building a list this way, the last item is always a variable and the list won't be complete until the recursion succeeds. So, the simple solution is just to build the list as you recurse down:
countdown( 0 , [] ) . % The special case.
countdown( N , [N|Ns] ) :- % The general case: to count down from N...
N > 0 , % - N must be greater than 0.
N1 is N-1 , % - decrement N
countdown(N1,Ns) % - recurse down, with the original N prepended to the [incomplete] result list.
. % Easy!
You might note that this will succeed for countdown(0,L), producing L = []. You could fix it by changing up the rules a we bit. The special (terminating) case is a little different and the general case enforces a lower bound of N > 1 instead of N > 0.
countdown( 1 , [1] ) .
countdown( N , [N|Ns] ) :-
N > 1 ,
N1 is N-1 ,
countdown(N1,Ns)
.
If you really wanted to use append/3, you could. It introduces another common Prolog idiom: the concept of a helper predicate that carries state and does all the work. It is common for the helper predicate to have the same name as the "public" predicate, with a higher arity. Something like this:
countdown(N,L) :- % to count down from N to 1...
N > 0 , % - N must first be greater than 0,
countdown(N,[],L) % - then, we just invoke the helper with its accumulator seeded as the empty list
. % Easy!
Here, countdown/2 is our "public predicate. It calls countdown/3 to do the work. The additional argument carries the required state. That helper will look like something like this:
countdown( 0 , L , L ) . % once the countdown is complete, unify the accumulator with the result list
countdown( N , T , L ) . % otherwise...
N > 0 , % - if N is greater than 0
N1 is N-1 , % - decrement N
append(T,[N],T1) , % - append N to the accumulator (note that append/3 requires lists)
countdown(N1,T1,L) % - and recurse down.
. %
You might notice that using append/3 like this means that it iterates over the accumulator on each invocation, thus giving you O(N2) performance rather than the desired O(N) performance.
One way to avoid this is to just build the list in reverse order and reverse that at the very end. This requires just a single extra pass over the list, meaning you get O(2N) performance rather than O(N2) performance. That gives you this helper:
countdown( 0 , T , L ) :- % once the countdown is complete,
reverse(T,L) % reverse the accumulator and unify it with the result list
. %
countdown( N , T , L ) :- % otherwise...
N > 0 , % - if N is greater than 0
N1 is N-1 , % - decrement N
append(T,[N],T1) , % - append N to the accumulator (note that append/3 requires lists)
countdown(N1,T1,L) % - and recurse down.
. %
There are several errors in your code:
first clause does not unify Y.
second clause uses append with first and third argument Y, which would only succeed if X=[].
in that clause you are trying to unify Y with another value which will always fail.
Y should be a list (according to your comment) in the head but you are using it to unify an integer.
You might do it this way:
countdown(X, L):-
findall(Y, between(1, X, Y), R),
reverse(R, L).
between/3 will give you every number from 1 to X (backtracking). Therefore findall/3 can collect all the numbers. This will give you ascending order so we reverse/2 it to get the descending order.
If you want to code yourself recursively:
countdown(X, [X|Z]):-
X > 1,
Y is X-1,
countdown(Y, Z).
countdown(1, [1]).
Base case (clause 2) states that number 1 yields a list with item 1.
Recursive clause (first clause) states that if X is greater than 1 then the output list should contain X appended with the result from the recursive call.

Adding numbers in Prolog and unifying it with same variable

Suppose I have a recursive definition which runs for say 4 times giving new value to X1 every time,and the final value of A1 should be sum of all the X1.(That is I want to implement A1=A1+X1 where X1 gets new values after every recursive call)
add(A1,X1,L1,L):-
L1 is L+1,
A1 is A1+X1.
Sum(A1,L):-
nth1(L,[1,2,4,5],X1),
add(A1,X1,L1,L),
( L1<=4 ->Sum(A1,L1)
; write('')
).
I have the feeling looking at your code and the names you use for variables, that you think that variables are somehow always global. And you don't have to "declare" or "instantiate" a number with N is 1. So your code could be:
main :-
add(2, 3).
add(X, Y) :-
sum(X, Y, Sum), write(Sum), /* X is Sum */ write(X), nl.
sum(X, Y, Sum) :-
Sum is X + Y.
Saying X is Sum means in this case that X and Sum must be the same number.
Now, if you wanted to actually add two things together and keep the new sum, you would have to use a new variable for it, since this is how variables work:
add(X, Y) :-
sum(X, Y, Sum), write(Sum),
nl,
sum(Sum, X, X1), write(X1),
nl.
Variables, once bound to a value (unified) cease to be variable. They become an immutable object.
However, to accomplish what you want (as I understand your problem statement), you can say something like this:
sum(A,X,1,S) :- % one iteration, and we're done. Just compute the sum of A+X.
S is A+X . % - just compute the sum of A+X and unify it with S.
sum(A,X,N,S) :- % otherwise...
N > 1 , % - so long as N > 1 ,
N1 is N-1 , % - decrement N
A1 is A+X , % - compute a new A, the sum of the current A+X
sum(A1,X,N1,S) . % - and recurse down, passing the new values.

How can I get this simple Prolog predicate to "return" the right way?

So I am learning Prolog. I need to write a predicate that finds the min/max value of an integer list. For example, the query minmaxArray([4,-1,5,4,1,2,3,-2],X,Y) would return X = -2 Y = 5. Here is what I have so far:
%min/max element of a 1 item list is that item.
minmaxArray([X], X, X).
%when there is only 2 items, put the smaller element in A and the
%larger element in B
minmaxArray([X,Y], A, B) :- mymin(X,Y,Min),
A is Min, mymax(X,Y,Max), B is Max.
%when there is more than two items make a recursive call to find the min/max
%of the rest of the list.
minmaxArray([X,Y|T], A, B) :- minmaxArray([Y|T], M, K),
mymin(X,M,Temp), A is Temp, mymax(X,K,Temp2), B is Temp2.
Assume mymin and mymax predicates work properly. They return the min and max of 2 numbers.
The issue here is that for example when I query minmaxArray([4,-1,5],X,Y) it returns X = -1 Y = 5 and then again X = -1 Y = 5. I know this must be because it hits the 2nd condition on the recursive call. I only want it to return X = -1 Y = 5 one time. I tried replacing condition 3 with this:
minmaxArray([X,Y,_|T], A, B) :- minmaxArray([Y,_|T], M, K),
mymin(X,M,Temp), A is Temp, mymax(X,K,Temp2), B is Temp2.
but that crashes the program. What can I do to fix this?
Note: I know that I may not be using the terminology correctly by saying returning and saying predicate when it should be rule, etc so I apologize in advance.
Seems that your code could be simpler. This predicate does all what's needed, and attempt to show how to use some standard construct (if/then/else)
minmaxArray([X], X, X).
minmaxArray([X|R], Min, Max) :-
minmaxArray(R, Tmin, Tmax),
( X < Tmin -> Min = X ; Min = Tmin ), % or mymin(X,Tmin,Min)
( X > Tmax -> Max = X ; Max = Tmax ).
You have provided 2 ways of solving the case where there are 2 items: one explicitly for 2 items, and your general case, which then employs the 1 element case.
Solution: remove the unneeded 2-element case.
Or, tail-recursive:
minmax([X|Xs],Min,Max) :- % we can only find the min/max of a non-empty list.
minmax(Xs,(X,X),Min,Max) % invoke the helper with the min/max accumulators seeded with the first item
.
minmax([],(Min,Max),Min,Max). % when the source list is exhausted, we're done: unify the accumulators with the result
minmax([X|Xs],(M,N),Min,Max) :- % when the source list is non-empty
min(X,M,M1) , % - get a new min value for the accumulator
max(X,N,N1) , % - get a new max value for the accumulator
minmax(Xs,(M1,N1),Min,Max) % - recurse down on the tail.
.
min(X,Y,X) :- X =< Y . % X is the min if it's less than or equal to Y.
min(X,Y,Y) :- X > Y . % Y is the min if it's greater than X.
max(X,Y,X) :- X >= Y . % X is the max if it's greater than or equal to Y.
max(X,Y,Y) :- X < Y . % Y is the max if it's greater than X.

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