Comment by tannhaeuser

The syntax of Prolog is basically a subset of the language of First Order Logic (sans quantifiers and function symbols), it doesn't get any more minimal than that. What's special in Prolog compared to imperative languages including functional languages is that variables aren't "assigned" but implicitly range over potential values until satisfying the context, like in math formulas for sets. Yes you can express that awkwardly with tons of type annotations and DSL conventions so that you never have to leave your favourite programming language. But then there's the problem of a Prolog "engine" doing quite a bit more than what could be reasonably assumed behind a synchronous library call, such as working with a compact solution space representation and/or value factoring, parallel execution environment, automatic value pruning and propagation, etc.

The integration of a Prolog backend into a mainstream stack is typically achieved via Prolog code generation (and also code generation via LLMs) or as a "service" on the Prolog side, considering Prolog also has excellent support for parsing DSLs or request/responses of any type; as in, you can implement a JSON parser in a single line of code actually.

As they say, if Prolog fits your application, it fits really well, like with planning, constraint solving, theorem proving, verification/combinatoric test case enumeration, pricing models, legal/strategic case differentiation, complex configuration and the like, the latter merely leveraging the modularity of logic clauses in composing complex programs using independent units.

So I don't know how much you've worked hands on with Prolog, but I think you actually managed to pick about one of the worst rather than best examples ;)