[Shootout-list] Directions of various benchmarks

[skaller]

On Thu, 2005-05-19 at 00:56, Jos=C3=A9 Bollo wrote:
> Le mercredi 18 Mai 2005 16:16, skaller a =C3=A9crit :

> Most of the things
> > you're probably talking about are NOT part of any sane
> > concept of a regular expression: they're hacks and kludges
> > added on by people without any proper mathematics and have
> > prevented the adoption of better solutions.
>=20
> maybe. are you sure?


http://felix.sf.net/papers/greedy.pdf
http://felix.sf.net/papers/regex-submatch.ps
http://felix.sf.net/papers/spire2000-tnfa.ps


> regular expressions with extractions and/or substitutions are in the ma=
in=20
> stream imho.

So are C++, Visual Basic, Microsoft, lemmings, George Bush,=20
and Michael Jackson .. :)

To be clear I am NOT objecting to setting a benchmark that
a 'regexp engine' will solve easily. My objection would
be to *requiring* one when they're unsound. Hence, requiring
the solution be 'the same way'. I don't wish to do it
"the same way" because in general that way is unsound and
I choose in my language not to provide unsound technology
where I can help it. I can still solve the problem with
the available tools -- and if it is more verbose then that
is the cost, people should know, and if they don't like it
they won't use Felix; and I'll have to live with it, but
if a solution is gratuitously banned because it isn't
'the same way' then the Shootout is useless because lots
of the languages here pride themselves in NOT doing everything
the 'same way' as other languages. They all have novel features
of there would be no point in having another language,
so there has to be scope for these languages to demonstate
what they're made of.


--=20
John Skaller, mailto:skaller@users.sf.net
voice: 061-2-9660-0850,=20
snail: PO BOX 401 Glebe NSW 2037 Australia
Checkout the Felix programming language http://felix.sf.net