Programming languages for artificial intelligence

Abstract This paper briefly describes the two most popular programming languages for artificial intelligence applications: LISP and PROLOG. The capabilities and limitations of each language are reviewed in the context of establishing the main requirements placed on artificial intelligence languages. The nested interactive array language, NIAL, is introduced as a language that combines logic and functional programming capabilities. Through comparisons with LISP and PROLOG, it is shown that the NIAL system meets the basic requirements for artificial intelligence programming.