Abstract. DLV is one of the most succesful and widely used ASP systems. It is based on stable model semantics, and supports a powerful language extending Disjunctive Logic Programming with many expressive constructs, including aggregates, strong and weak constraints, functions, lists, and sets. In this paper, we describe the long tour from basic research on languages and semantics, studies on algorithms and complexity, design and implementation of prototypes, up to the realization of a powerful and efficient system, which won the last ASP competition, is employed in industrial applications, and is even ready for marketing and commercial distribution. We report on the experience we got in more than twelve years of work in the DLV project, focusing on most recent developments, industrial applications, trends, and market perspectives.