B-Prolog-specific Programming

Besides Edinburgh style clauses, B-Prolog also accepts matching clauses in which input and output unifications are separated, and determinism is denoted explicitly. The advantage of writing matching clauses is that the compiler can generate efficient code without spending time analyzing the programs.

To help the compiler generate efficient code from a program, the programmer can give the compiler some information about the modes and determinacy of the predicates in the program by adding declarations in the program (see Chapter on Directives).