Hi,
> 1. It doesn't compile with the latest version of SWI-Prolog, I had to
> drop down to the 5.2 series.
> 2. Compiling 5.2.X SWI-Prolog with --enable-mt failed entirely on my
> Mac OS X.
> 3. The README states very clearly that "very early alpha release and
> lots of bugs should be expected."
>
> There were some other issues, but those were the big ones. Since this
> project doesn't appear to have been touched for two years and (with all
> due respect) since you didn't respond to my email inquiries, I
> concluded that Language::Prolog::Yaswi was a dead project.
>
> Don't get me wrong, Salvador, I think you've done some fantastic work
> with it, but I want to truly be able to take advantage of logic
> programming in Perl and I can't do that with a distribution I can't
> recommend to others. I'd love to see more work on the project (tests,
> docs, interface, compile with latest version, etc.)
Similar problems on Linux here too. Our production system runs
"Welcome to SWI-Prolog (Version 4.0.9)" while our development system
runs "Welcome to SWI-Prolog (Multi-threaded, Version 5.2.13)"
Our NLP/NLU application does run on both environments, as long as we
do not use the Yaswi module (newest version fails with the 4.0.9 on
production as well as with 5.5.x if we want to put that on development
system).
[...]
> Richard, yes, these are problems. Not everyone would want an external
> dependency on SWI-Prolog, but if they really wanted or needed logic
> programming for some project, I could see them using
> Language::Prolog::Yaswi.
>
> My pure Perl version is intended primarily as a proof of concept with
> the long-term goal being porting the engine to C for performance
> reasons. Running at 1000 LIPs is atrocious (and we won't even begin to
> discuss memory requirements of Perl data structures.) This will not be
> as feature rich as Yaswi, but it would definitely be easier to install
> and configure.
You know - I'm almost ashamed to say this, because I haven't
contributed a single line to either project, but the
consolidation-driven manager in me feels a certain bitterness about
seeing double effort and two halfway-done projects.
Ovid: Is it really less work to push AI::Prolog to where you probably
want it to be (engine ported to C), than harness development (and thus
power) of the SWI engine and team up with Salvador?
I mean - this can be a totally ignorant/naive thought of me, but OTOH
it may be pragmatical.
> Richard, out of curiosity, is the main objection to Yaswi the
> interface, the external dependencies or something else altogether?
I try a priorized list:
1) dependency, adding complexity to the requirements for installation
base
2) point 1) wouldn't be that much of a problem if one could be sure,
that in future taking two versions of SWI-Prolog and
Language::Prolog::Yaswi that are not *insanely* far apart (not more
than 2 years), would still work.
3) interface. We had good experience with Inline::C, I just don't get
it, why it shouldn't be possible to embed prolog programs in Perl
exactly that way. (the HEREDOC of AI::Prolog comes nearest to this
requirement). So why no Inline::Prolog?
--
best regards,
Dipl.-Inf. Richard Jelinek
- The PetaMem Group - Prague/Nuremberg - www.petamem.com -
-= 3394928 Mind Units =-
