Simultaneously Teaching Mathematics and Prolog in School Curricula: A Mutual Benefit

Abstract

Created in the 1970s, Prolog has its roots in mathematical logic. Its use to model logic problems is natural, but beyond logic, we suggest that using and learning Prolog for most of the topics in the high school math curriculum (probability, algebra, analysis or geometry) allows for a better assimilation of the course concepts. We argue that using Prolog is helpful in that it asks to properly model a problem, which is essential to develop problem-solving skills since it is often the key for finding a solution. At the same time, high school students discover a programming language that is easier to learn than imperative languages since the syntax is close to natural language and the language specification is more synthetic than traditional imperative languages.