LogicJS adds logic programming to JavaScript, as typically known by the language Prolog.
Download the logic.js file and move it to your project.
If using npm,
npm install logicjs
var or = logic.or,
and = logic.and,
eq = logic.eq,
run = logic.run,
lvar = logic.lvar,
between = logic.between
//creates two unique logic variables
var x = lvar(),
y = lvar()
//creates a 'goal'
g1 = or(
and(eq(x,2), eq(y,3)),
and(eq(x,y), eq(y,'dog'))
)
//runs goal asking for the possible values of x and y
run(g1, x) //[2, 'dog']
run(g1, y) //[3, 'dog']
run(g1, [x,y]) //[ [2, 3], ['dog', 'dog'] ]
//a goal is a sequence of assertions
//here, we assert that x is a value from 1 to 3
//and that y is either 1 or 2
g2 = and(
between(1,3,x),
or(eq(1,y),
eq(2,y))
)
//get only the first 2 answers
run(g2, [x,y], 2) //[ [1, 1], [1, 2] ]
//get all answers
run(g2, [x,y]) //[ [1, 1], [1, 2], [2, 1], [2, 2], [3, 1], [3, 2] ]
Programmers may create their own goals by combining primitive goals such as or, and and eq.
function father(x,y) {
//mcbob is father of bob
//bob is father of bill
return or(
and(eq(x,'mcbob'), eq(y,'bob')),
and(eq(x,'bob'), eq(y,'bill'))
)
}
function grandfather(x,y) {
var z = lvar() //dummy variable
return and(father(x,z), father(z,y))
}
//who is father of bob?
run(father(x,'bob'), x) //['mcbob']
//who is grandfather of who?
run(grandfather(x,y), [x,y]) //[ ['mcbob', 'bill'] ]
The win and fail goals simply succeed or not succeed. They are analogous to the true and false constants in logic.
run(logic.win, x) //[ undefined ]
run(logic.fail, x) //[]
Note that failure means there are no answers (empty array), while success means there is at least one answer (in this case the answer is undefined, since we still don't know the value of x).
In pure logic programming, it doesn't matter which arguments of a goal have been instantiated.
This works for the arithmetic relations.
var add = logic.add, sub = logic.sub, mul = logic.mul, div = logic.div
run(add(x,2,6), x) //[ 4 ]
run(sub(2,x,6), x) //[ -4 ]
run(mul(2,6,x), x) //[ 12 ]
run(div(x,2,6), x) //[ 12 ]
When not enough arguments are instantied, some goals will propagate a constraint (such as "x+1=y" or "x is less or equal to 2"). When it's still not possible to find a value for the variable, it'll return a domain with the possible values of that variable.
var less_equal = logic.less_equal
var write = console.log
v = run(and(add(x,y,3), eq(y,1)), x)[0]
write(v) //2
v = run(less_equal(1,2), x)[0]
write(v) //undefined
d = run(less_equal(x,2), x)[0]
write(d.min, d.max) //-inf, 2
d = run(less_equal(2,x), x)[0]
write(d.min, d.max) //2, inf
d = run(less_equal(x,y), x)[0]
write(d.min, d.max) //-inf, inf
Unification (done by the goal logic.eq) is the most basic kind of constraint. Constraint logic programming adds further constraints.
An example of an impure goal included in LogicJS is between, which requires the first two arguments to be numbers.
The implementation of LogicJS is based on MiniKanren/SICP.
Last modified 07 October 2024