Abstract

Recently, there has been much interest in the derivation of logic programming languages based on linear logic, a logic of resource-consumption. Such languages provide a notion of resource-oriented programming, often leading to programs that are more elegant and concise than their equivalents in languages, such as Prolog, based on classical logics. We discuss, with examples, the design, implementation and applications of Lygon, a linear logic programming language. Lygon is based on a proof-theoretic analysis of which occurrences of the linear connectives provide an adequate basis for programming. In common with other linear logic programming languages, Lygon allows clauses to be used exactly once in a computation, thereby avoiding the need for the explicit resource-counting often necessary in Prolog-like languages. Indeed, it appears that resource-sensitivity leads to significant differences between the natural programming methodologies in Lygon and Prolog. Just as linear logic...

Citations