This book provides a comprehensive description of the theoretical foundations, design, and implementation of an innovative logic programming language in which computations are produced directly from equational definitions. Like LISP and Prolog, the equational programming language is based on the concept that a programmer should give a mathematical description of the result of a computation rather than a series of commands to direct a computation. Unlike LISP and Prolog, however, the equational programming language strictly follows the rules of equational logic, providing powerful programming techniques not available in conventional languages.
Equational Logic as a Programming Language covers the entire spectrum of theoretical and applied work involved in eight years of designing and implementing the equational logic programming language. Separate chapters cover the intuitive logical semantics of the language, the powerful programming techniques supported by it and their connections to procedural techniques such as coroutines, the methods used to produce a highly flexible implementation of the language with very little manpower, and the potential for implementation on parallel computers.
Michael J. O'Donnell is Associate Professor of Computer Science at The Johns Hopkins University, on leave from Purdue University. Equational Logic as a Programming Language is included in the Foundations of Computing Series, edited by Michael Garey.