Memoization

Introduction

The two best rules for improving efficiency of Prolog programs were given by Richard O'Keefe:
  1. Don't do it.
  2. Don't do it again.
To illustrate option 1: If we need to solve a task that is exorbitantly hard, we could look for a different, easier task whose results approximate optimality within a sufficient range.

In this text, we discuss option 2, that is ways to not do it again. The common theme is that we remember results of previous computations, which is a technique known as memoization in computer science.

Tabling

Tabling is a built-in method to apply memoization to Prolog predicates. This means that the underlying Prolog system can automatically perform memoization for you, if you request it. Tabling is also known as SLG resolution.

Different Prolog systems provide tabling in various forms and with different characteristics. XSB Prolog is one of the pioneering systems in this area, and some of its techniques are now becoming more widely available also in other systems. Your Prolog system's manual should contain the exact details.

For example, to enable tabling in Scryer Prolog, you need to:
  1. Use library(tabling) via the directive :- use_module(library(tabling)). in your source file.
  2. Enable tabling via the table/1 directive.
Hence, to enable tabling for adjacent/2, you can write: 
:- use_module(library(tabling)).

:- table adjacent/2.

adjacent(a, b).
adjacent(e, f).
adjacent(X, Y) :- adjacent(Y, X).
In this case, tabling has made the predicate terminating: 
?- adjacent(X, Y), false.
   false.
As the second example, let us consider the series of Fibonacci numbers, which we can describe in Prolog for example as follows: 
fibonacci(0, 1).
fibonacci(1, 1).
fibonacci(N, F) :-
        N #> 1,
        N1 #= N - 1,
        N2 #= N - 2,
        fibonacci(N1, F1),
        fibonacci(N2, F2),
        F #= F1 + F2.
The relation works as intended in the most general case: 
?- fibonacci(N, F).
   N = 0, F = 1
;  N = 1, F = 1
;  N = 2, F = 2
;  N = 3, F = 3
;  N = 4, F = 5
;  ... .
It can also be used for more specific queries: 
?- fibonacci(17, F).
   F = 2584
;  false.
However, the computation runs out of stack or takes too long for larger arguments: 
?- fibonacci(100, F).
ERROR: Out of local stack
We can easily enable tabling by adding the following directives to the file: 
:- use_module(library(tabling)).

:- table fibonacci/2.
Using SLG resolution, the answer to the previous query is now readily found: 
?- fibonacci(100, F).
   F = 573147844013817084101
;  false.
Tabling also allows you to use left-recursive DCGs for parsing. For example, you can add the directive: 
:- table tree_nodes//1.
to apply tabling to the DCG nonterminal tree_nodes//1.

Scryer Prolog implements tabling via delimited continuations. See the paper Tabling as a Library with Delimited Control by Benoit Desouter et al. for more information.

Doing it manually

We can emulate tabling by manually storing results in the global database.

Consider for example the following definition of memo/1: 

:- dynamic(memo_/1).

memo(Goal) :-
        (   memo_(Goal)
        ->  true
        ;   once(Goal),
            assertz(memo_(Goal))
        ).


As long as Goal is semi-deterministic or deterministic, memo(Goal) is equivalent to Goal and reuses results that have already been computed. This leads to a technique known as dynamic programming in computer science.

Note that this is less powerful than tabling: First, it requires modifications of the original program that go beyond adding simple directives. You have to manually wrap the goals for which you want to enable memoization with memo/1. Second, this rather ad hoc definition does not help to improve termination properties of your programs. On the plus side, the technique can still help to improve performance tremendously when it is applicable, and it is portable to all Prolog systems.

Applied to fibonacci/2, it could look as follows: 
fibonacci(0, 1).
fibonacci(1, 1).
fibonacci(N, F) :-
        N #> 1,
        N1 #= N - 1,
        N2 #= N - 2,
        memo(fibonacci(N1, F1)),
        memo(fibonacci(N2, F2)),
        F #= F1 + F2.
Sample query and answer: 
?- fibonacci(100, F).
F = 573147844013817084101.


Doing it more explicitly

In many cases, we want more explicit control over what is being stored. For example, we may want to ensure that we do not accidentally clutter the global database or tabling storage. In such cases, we can carry around a custom "database" of existing results as predicate arguments.

We can use semicontext notation to carry around the state implicitly while still retaining full control over the storage.

As an example, we present the calculation of the minimum edit distance between two lists, using the nonterminals state//1 and state//2: 
min_edit(As, Bs, Min-Es) :-
        empty_assoc(Assoc0),
        phrase(min_dist(As, Bs, Min-Es), [Assoc0], _).

min_dist([], [], 0-[]) --> [].
min_dist(As, Bs, Min-Es) -->
        (   state(S0), { get_assoc(store(As,Bs), S0, Min-Es) } -> []
        ;   { findall(option(Action,Cost,As1,Bs1),
                      edit_option(As, Bs, Action, Cost, As1, Bs1),
                      Options) },
            assess_options(Options, CostOptions),
            state(S0, S),
            { keysort(CostOptions, [Min-Es|_]),
              put_assoc(store(As,Bs), S0, Min-Es, S) }
        ).

assess_options([], []) --> [].
assess_options([option(Action,Cost,As,Bs)|Options], [Min-[Action|Es]|Rest]) -->
        min_dist(As, Bs, Min0-Es),
        { Min #= Min0 + Cost },
        assess_options(Options, Rest).
This code is quite flexible, and can be adapted to various use cases by providing a suitable definition of edit_option/6, declaratively describing the actions that are allowed to transform one list into another. For example, a typical use case may look like this: 
edit_option([A|As], Bs, drop(A), 1, As, Bs).
edit_option(As, [B|Bs], insert(B), 1, As, Bs).
edit_option([A|As], [A|Bs], use(A), 0, As, Bs).
This means that there are three possible actions (dropping, inserting and using an element), with associated costs of one, one and zero, respectively.

Example query and answer: 
?- min_edit("abcef", "axbdef", Min).
   Min = 3-[use(a),insert(x),use(b),drop(c),insert(d),use(e),use(f)]
;  false.
If it were implemented naively, min_edit/3 would exhibit exponential runtime in the length of the lists. Using memoization has reduced this to polynomial runtime.


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