CSE 307: Relational Programming ( CSE307 Moodle )

Bachelor of Science, Ecole Polytechnique

François Fages and Mathieu Hemery

This course presents the relational programming paradigm, also called Constraint Logic Programming (CLP), from its logical foundations for programming with mathematical variables and relations in a declarative fashion, to multiple significant applications in relational databases, knowledge representation, symbolic computation, combinatorial optimisation, automated deduction and natural language processing. From the early days of Logic Programming based on Horn clause logic formulae, towards the holy grail of declarative programming by simply modelling the problem at hand by mathematical variables and constraints, the students will learn how to use a recent dialect of Prolog with constraints over the data structures of first-order logic terms, finite domains, integers and rational numbers. The balance between declarative programming and efficiency will lead us into looking at how things work internally both for constraint solving and for clause resolution in Prolog compilers based on the Warren Abstract Machine. Several sessions will illustrate the efficiency of this approach to solve some practical instances of various NP-complete problems.

The practical sessions will use a modern Prolog system called SWI Prolog. The students are invited to install SWI Prolog on their own laptop before the first session.

Bibliography:

Schedule 2022-2023

C1 21 Oct.
Introduction to Datalog: relational databases in Horn clause logic
TP1 24 Oct.
Relational databases in Datalog
C2 28 Oct.
From Datalog to Prolog: equality constraints in first-order logic term structure
TP2 7 Nov.
Symbolic differentiation and list processing in Prolog
C3 14 Nov.
From Prolog to CLP(X): constraints in a fixed mathematical structure, CLP(R)
TP3 18 Nov.
Production planning in CLP(R)
C4 21 Nov.
Constraint propagation with domain filtering algorithms: CLP(FD)
TP4 25 Nov.
Disjunctive scheduling in CLP(FD)
C5 28 Nov..
Reified constraints, meta-programming and the Warren Abstract Machine (WAM).
TP5 2 Dec.
Theorem proving in CLP(X)
C6 5 Dec.
Fixpoint semantics of CLP(X)
TP6 9 Dec.
Natural language processing in concurrent Prolog
Exam mid Dec.
Final written examination

Previous examinations

2022 written examination with solutions
2021 written examination with solutions
2020 online examination
2019 written examination with solutions




Ceremony 17 July 2020
Good bye video