November 12, 2025
Big brain or brain melt?
Learn Prolog Now
Interactive Prolog course drops—programmers split between 'galaxy brain' and 'IQ check' vibes
TLDR: Learn Prolog Now just added in-browser, run-it-here examples via SWI SH, reviving a classic course for the click-and-try era. The crowd is split: some say it’s niche and punishing, others swear it’s mind-opening and great for cleaner designs—even if you code the final app in another language.
A classic has gone interactive: Learn Prolog Now! now embeds SWI SH, so you can run tiny examples in your browser while learning this logic-first language. The site admits the wiring isn’t perfect yet (matching code to example questions is still wonky), but that hasn’t stopped the comments from lighting up. The core drama: is Prolog a niche party trick or a brain-expanding superpower? One commenter bluntly asks if it’s “as versatile as Python,” kicking off a practical-versus-purist showdown.
Humor hit early: a student confessed Prolog was the “first encounter” with the idea their IQ might not be as high as they thought—cue a wave of “it broke my brain” jokes. Others call it mind‑bending in a good way, comparing it to relearning programming from scratch and recommending the Exercism track for training wheels. A memorable quip split declarative languages into two camps: there’s the gentle stuff like SQL…and then there’s Prolog, the spicy takeout of logic. Meanwhile, the pragmatists flex: one dev says modeling in Prolog led to unbelievably clean designs they later shipped in Ruby. Old-school pedigree meets modern tools, GitHub sources, and a course that still chants: practice, practice, practice. Verdict from the crowd? Prolog is either your gateway to galaxy brain—or a humbling logic boot camp you’ll never forget.
Key Points
- •Learn Prolog Now! is an introductory Prolog course available online since 2001 and in a revised book edition.
- •The course is designed to be self-contained and suitable for self-study, with exercises to build foundational skills.
- •It emphasizes practical learning, advising readers to use a Prolog interpreter and complete Practical Sessions.
- •The current site version embeds SWISH (SWI-Prolog for Sharing) and rewrites HTML to recognize code and queries.
- •There are known limitations in recognizing relations between code and queries, and updates are needed for SWI-Prolog compatibility; sources are on GitHub.