An automatic partial deduction system for constraint logic programs

Presents a new procedure of partial deduction of various constraint logic programs. The procedure takes a program-goal pair (P ₀, Q₀) as input and outputs a resultant program-goal pair (P_n, Q_n). The procedure always terminates and the computational equivalence of the program-goal pairs (P₀, Q₀) and (P_n, Q_n) is preserved. P_n is more efficient in solving Q_n than P₀ in solving Q₀. Our procedure is based on the idea of program transformation, using transformation rules such as unfolding, constraint simplification, code deletion with respect to a goal, introduction of a newly defined clause, and folding. We have implemented the procedure in an integrated partial deduction system, which can work with Prolog, CLP(Bool), and CLP(R) programs. Our results are compared with those resulting from other partial deduction methods, and it is shown that our method generates more succinct and efficient resultant programs in general