[Pdx-pm] Lisp class, L2 acquisition, Prolog, etc.

[Ovid]

--- Randall Lucas <rlucas at tercent.com> wrote:
> But the question remains: is 
> there a good institution in Portland where I can find a structured
> group class on Lisp (or for that matter, Haskell etc.)?

Funny how lousy we are about staying on task, eh?

> As far as Prolog, what on Earth might I use this for?  Graham wrote 
> Yahoo Shopping in Lisp, but would it make sense to write the Next Big
> Thing in Prolog?  I ultimately would like to beleive in the potential

> utility of the next language I undertake.

I sent an email giving a teaser about the talk, but to better answer
the question of "what I might use this for", I'll just toss off a
number of applications for which Prolog is commonly used:

* Database mining
* Scheduling
* Embedded rules engines (Windows NT used Prolog to handle network
installations)
* Natural language processing
* Artificial intelligence research

And many more.  Regrettably, because many have mistakenly viewed Prolog
as something that PhDs work with on arcane projects, it's taken a long
time for this language to gain traction.  (There are other reasons,
too, but I won't go into that right now.)

Cheers,
Ovid

PS:  If you want to read more about what Prolog is used for,
http://www.ainewsletter.com/ is a free monthly e-newsletter that
usually has Prolog related material.

-- 
If this message is a response to a question on a mailing list, please send
follow up questions to the list.

Web Programming with Perl -- http://users.easystreet.com/ovid/cgi_course/