Representing knowledge and reasoning with it are important
components of an intelligent system, and are two important facets
of Artificial Intelligence. In both the role of formal logic, in
particular the non-monotonic logics is well established. Another
important expectation from intelligent systems is their ability to
accept high level requests -- as opposed to detailed step-by-step
instructions, and to use their knowledge and reasoning ability to
figure out the detailed steps that need to be taken. To have this
ability intelligent systems must have a declarative interface
whose input language must be based on logic.

In this book Chitta Baral proposes to use the non-monotonic
language of AnsProlog -- logic programming with answer set
semantics, for both knowledge representation and reasoning, and
declarative problem solving. He presents results obtained over the
years in a first ever compilation. This compilation is not only
unique to logic programming, but also to the field of knowledge
representation as a whole, as for no other language or logic has a
comparable body of results been accumulated. The book is targeted
towards students, researchers and practitioners and its content
includes: (a) theoretical results about AnsProlog such as
properties of AnsProlog sub-classes, including their complexity
and expressiveness, and building block results to both analyze and
modularly build large AnsProlog programs; (b) illustrations of
correctness proofs of AnsProlog programs; (c) algorithms to
compute answer sets (`models') of AnsProlog programs; (d)
demonstration of the knowledge representation and reasoning
ability of AnsProlog through benchmark examples such as the frame
problem, reasoning about actions, inheritance hierarchies,
reasoning with priorities, and reasoning with incomplete
information; (e) use of AnsProlog in problem solving activities
such as planning, diagnosis, constraint satisfaction problems,
logic puzzles, and combinatorial auctions; and (f) descriptions of
systems that implement AnsProlog and code of various examples in
the syntax of these systems.