Public release of Pyramid prolog compiler

Pyramid is a Prolog-to-C compiler for developing stand-alone applications
or software components with the Prolog language. Pyramid conforms to the
syntax of Quintus Prolog, and supports all major functionalities in Quintus
including dynamic loading, internal data base management, and a two-way C
language interface. Pyramid also provides a number of new primitives to
facilitate writing programs for parallel computers.


Pyramid produces object programs in the C language. This direct translation
approach offers a number of advantages over byte-code interpretation, a
technique that is standard in most Prolog implementations. Most notably,
direct translation lowers the cost of certain computation through bypassing
the layer of software known as the byte-code interpreter; it allows software
be distributed in a form readily acceptable to virtually any system with
a C compiler; and it opens up a meta-interface, the C object program, through
which one can alter the standard implementation of certain features when
desired.


Most compiled Pyramid programs run at speed comparable to that of the latest
version (v3.2) of Quintus Prolog as indicated by our benchmark tests. Actual
speed of a program varies and depends on Prolog features used by the program.
Pyramid has been used in a natural language processing system, Pappi(1), in
which the main component comprises more than fifty thousand lines of Prolog
code written originally in Quintus Prolog.


This release includes a compiler, a runtime library, a user-guide, and a demo
program (Pappi). The software license is free under the terms in the license
agreement. See the README file in the distribution for details concerning the
use and distribution of Pyramid. The system is currently available for Sun
Sparc (SunOS4.1.3U1, SunOS5), SGI (IRIX5.3), DEC Alpha (OSF/1) workstations,
and the Power Macintosh (System7.1) computers. A parallel version is available
for SGI challenger (IRIX5.3) and Sun Sparc10/1000 (Solaris5.4) multiprocessors.


The software can be obtained via anonymous ftp at:


        ftp.nj.nec.com


under the directory /pub/zlin. The distribution for system SYS is contained
in the compressed tar file pyramid-0.9.SYS.tar.Z


If you have problem installing or using the software, we can be reached at the
address below.


Contact Address:


        Dr. Zheng Lin
        NEC Research Institute, Inc.
        4 Independence Way
        Princeton, New Jersey 08540
        USA


        Internet: zlin@research.nj.nec.com
        Phone: (609)-951-2769
        Fax: (609)-951-2244


-------------------
(1): Pappi, Principles-And-Parameters Parser, is a tool for linguistic
experiments, developed by Dr. Sandiway Fong at NEC Research Institute.
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