Difference between revisions of "Getting Started"

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If you are new to the Prolog language (ISO/Edinburgh Prolog), it is worth starting with the [[Fundamental Prolog Part 1|Fundamental Prolog tutorials]] devoted to the very fundamental ideas of Prolog programming.
If you are new to the Prolog language (ISO/Edinburgh Prolog), it is worth starting with the [[Fundamental Prolog Part 1|Fundamental Prolog tutorials]] devoted to the very fundamental ideas of Prolog programming.
You are also welcome to download and try a small Prolog Interpreter [http://www.visual-prolog.com/vip/example/pie/pie.htm '''PIE''' (Prolog Inference Engine)] written in Visual Prolog. PIE uses a standard Prolog syntax.


== If You Are New to Visual Prolog ==
== If You Are New to Visual Prolog ==

Revision as of 12:43, 13 November 2007

How to get started with Visual Prolog?

The answer depends on what you know already.

But no matter what prerequisites you have, it is a good idea to read the tutorials and you may simply choose to start with Visual Prolog for Tyros.

If You Are New to traditional Prolog

If you are new to the Prolog language (ISO/Edinburgh Prolog), it is worth starting with the Fundamental Prolog tutorials devoted to the very fundamental ideas of Prolog programming.

You are also welcome to download and try a small Prolog Interpreter PIE (Prolog Inference Engine) written in Visual Prolog. PIE uses a standard Prolog syntax.

If You Are New to Visual Prolog

The tutorials included into the Fundamental Visual Prolog section describe differences between Visual Prolog and traditional Prolog and introduce a program that is developed in Visual Prolog. You will be suggested to download example projects devoted to family relations that are discussed in these tutorials.

Other tutorials discuss Visual Prolog Integrated Environment (IDE) and various Visual Prolog language features.


If You Are Migrating from Visual Prolog 5 or Visual Prolog 6

If you are migrating from Visual Prolog 5.x, you are already familiar with most of the IDE, with programming using clauses, fact databases, etc. In this case, we suggest that you start by reading the tutorial Visual Prolog 7 for Visual Prolog 5 Users. This tutorial will not learn you the current version of Visual Prolog, but it will draw your attention to some new things.

If you projects created by previous versions of Visual Prolog include reference domains that are not supported in the current version, we recommend you to read the How To Remove Reference Domains from a Project tutorial.

We can also recommend other Visual Prolog Tutorials published at Visual Prolog web site. Here you will also find updates to the tutorials included into the Help system (if any) and new tutorials. We encourage you to comment and discuss the tutorials in the Visual Prolog Discussion Forums. Problems and suggestions expressed in the forum have great influence on our choice of topics.

Visual Prolog Online Help System

Once you are familiar with the concepts and principles, you also can use reference material from the following sections of the Help system:

  • The Language Reference that describes the syntax and semantics of the Visual Prolog language.
  • Integrated Development Environment (IDE) Help.
  • Prolog Foundation Classes (PFC) reference documentation.

This Help is reference material rather than tutorial, meaning that it is not a good place to learn Visual Prolog, but it is a very good place to seek answers to specific questions.

The Help system is available from the Integrated Development Environment.


Community

You are also welcome to join Visual Prolog world-wide Community and seek assistance or share your knowledge in the Visual Prolog Discussion forums and this Wiki.

You will find a lot of interesting information in the Visual Prolog Tips, How To's, Code Samples, etc. And, of course, you are also invited to contribute your own tips, etc.


Examples

In the distribution there is a number of example programs. You can install these examples from the IDE, just press Help -> Install Examples.... You can install these examples again and again, so do not worry about experimenting with them. You can also use them as a starting point for your own programs. Finally, you can download even more examples on Visual Prolog Examples and Demos.

Knowledge Base

If you come over a problem, while creating your project, and think that there is a bug in Visual Prolog, you can check Visual Prolog Knowledge Base. Here you will find descriptions of bugs and problems that the PDC knows about and is investigating for a possible future fix. Often we provide steps to work around the problem. The Knowledge Base is available from the IDE by If a bug is fixed in a new release of the product, the "Bug" article includes information about the product version, where the Bug is fixed.

You will also find a lot valuable information in Visual Prolog site.

Visual Prolog Tutorials, Visual Prolog Discussion forums, the Knowledge Base, and information about Visual Prolog updates are available directly from the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) via the WEB menu.


Prolog Develpment Center Site

We invite you to visit the Prolog Development Center site to find descriptions of real-world commercial projects written entirely in Visual Prolog for:

  • Staff Planning
  • Hospital Booking
  • Airport Decision Support
  • Airline Decision Support
  • Shop Floor Scheduling
  • Speech Based Solutions

We hope, you will enjoy Visual Prolog!