The Semantics of Predicate Logic as a Programming Language

Abstract

ABSTRACT Sentences in first-order predicate logic can be usefully interpreted as programs In this paper the operational and fixpomt semantics of predicate logic programs are defined, and the connections with the proof theory and model theory of logic are investigated It is concluded that operational semantics is a part of proof theory and that fixpolnt semantics is a special case of model-theoret:c semantics KEY WORDS AND PHRASES predicate logic as a programming language, semantics of programming languages, resolution theorem proving, operaUonal versus denotatlonal semantics, SL-resoluuon, flxpomt characteriza-tio