Start chapter 6.

lpn/ch06/append.pl

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+append([], L, L).
+append([H|T], L2, [H|L3]) :- append(T, L2, L3).
+
+prefix(P, L) :- append(P, _, L).
+suffix(S, L) :- append(_, S, L).
+
+sublists(SubL, L) :- suffix(S, L), prefix(SubL, S).
+
+%% reverse([], []).
+%% reverse([H|T], R) :- reverse(T, RevT), append(RevT, [H], R).
+
+reverse([], A, A).
+reverse([H|T], A, R) :- reverse(T, [H|A], R).

lpn/ch06/notes.md

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+## Chapter 6: More lists
+
+### append
+
+append(L1, L2, L3) ⇒ K3 ← L1 + L2
+
+Definition:
+
+```
+append([], L, L).
+append([H|T], L2, [H|L3]) :- append(T, L2, L3).
+```
+
+> [This] illustrates a more general theme: the use of unification to build
+> structure. In a nutshell, the recursive calls to append/3 build up this
+> nested pattern of variables which code up the required answer. When Prolog
+> finally instantiates the innermost variable `_G593` to `[1, 2, 3]`, the
+> answer crystallises out, like a snowflake forming around a grain of dust.
+> But it is unification, not magic, that produces the result.
+
+The most obvious use is concatenation; but we can build other predicates, too:
+
+```
+prefix(P, L) :- append(P, _, L).
+suffix(S, L) :- append(_, S, L).
+```
+
+We can generate sublists: the text notes that the sublists are the suffixes of
+the prefixes of the list. In retrospect, it makes sense. This can be defined as
+
+```
+sublists(SubL, L) :- suffix(S, L), prefix(SubL, S).
+```
+
+## Reversing a list
+
+`append/3` isn't always what we want and is pretty inefficient. For example, if
+we want to reverse a list using the following recursive definition:
+
+1. Reversing the empty list returns the empty list.
+2. Otherwise, given [H|T], return [reverse(T)|[H]]
+
+
+```
+reverse([], []).
+reverse([H|T], R) :- reverse(T, RevT), append(RevT, [H], R).
+```
+
+If a trace is run on a call, it's apparent it's doing a lot of extra work. For
+example, given `reverse([a, b, c, d, e], R)`, 12 calls are made to `reverse`
+and 30 calls to `append`.
+