arXiv:1012.0830v1 [cs.AI] 3 Dec 2010

# Using Asp With Recent Extensions For Causal Explanations∗

Yves Moinard INRIA Bretagne Atlantique, IRISA, Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes cedex, France email: moinard@irisa.fr

## Abstract

We examine the practicality for a user of using Answer Set Programming (ASP) for representing logical formalisms. We choose as an example a formalism aiming at capturing causal explanations from causal information. We provide an implementation, showing **the naturalness and relative efficiency of this translation job. We are interested in the ease for writing an ASP program, in accordance with the**
claimed "declarative" aspect of ASP. Limitations of the earlier systems
(poor data structure and difficulty in reusing pieces of programs) made that in practice, the "declarative aspect" was more theoretical than practical. We show how recent improvements in working ASP systems facilitate a lot the translation, even if a few improvements **could still** be useful.

## 1 Introduction

We examine a few difficulties encountered when trying to translate a logical formalism into a running answer set programming (ASP) program, showing how recent developments in ASP systems are of great help. We are not concerned here by complexity matters (also an important matter, **for which** exists a large literature). Rather, we deal with the ease for writing, and