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Re: [StrongED] searching for last word in a field



In message <36a55a6257.jim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
          Jim Nagel <stred@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> (That's not to say I understand the Lua syntax either.  That's another
> learning curve that still beckons.)

I am sure that anybody who has had anything to do with pattern-matching
(Fred Graute, Steve Fyatt, Harriet Basley et mult. al.) will agree that no
syntax will ever be both comprehensible and adequate. The real problem
is that we think we know what we want, when in fact we do not. We can
only reach the right answer after a series of "hold on, that is not
quite what I want, let us try adding this twiddle". The syntax of the
right pattern is almost irrelevant.

That said, the syntax of Lpeg does have some positive aspects - you
must define your own variables for the constituent patterns, and patterns
are no longer confounded with strings, one of the bugbears of
traditional pattern syntaxes with their "magic" characters. But Lpeg is
hard to program, especially the error-handling. Humans do not think
in terms of grammars.

--
Gavin Wraith (gavin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
Home page: http://www.wra1th.plus.com/

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