research-article

Robust scripting via patterns

Authors:

Martin J. HirzelAuthors Info & Claims

ACM SIGPLAN Notices, Volume 48, Issue 2

Pages 29 - 40

https://doi.org/10.1145/2480360.2384582

Published: 22 October 2012 Publication History

Abstract

Dynamic typing in scripting languages is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it can be more flexible and more concise than static typing. On the other hand, it can lead to less robust code. We argue that patterns can give scripts much of the robustness of static typing, without losing the flexibility and concision of dynamic typing. To make this case, we describe a rich pattern system in the dynamic language Thorn. Thorn patterns interact with its control constructs and scoping rules to support concise and robust test-and-extract idioms. Thorn patterns encompass an extensive set of features from ML-style patterns to regular expressions and beyond. And Thorn patterns can be first-class and support pattern-punning (mirror constructor syntax). Overall, this paper describes a powerful pattern system that makes scripting more robust.

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Cited By

Kohn Tvan Rossum GBucher II GTalin Levkivskyi I(2020)Dynamic pattern matching with PythonProceedings of the 16th ACM SIGPLAN International Symposium on Dynamic Languages10.1145/3426422.3426983(85-98)Online publication date: 17-Nov-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3426422.3426983
Nedzved ABelotserkovsky ALukashevich P(2015)Building the regional system for seismic data processing2015 International Conference on Information and Digital Technologies10.1109/DT.2015.7222981(261-265)Online publication date: Jul-2015
https://doi.org/10.1109/DT.2015.7222981
Solodkyy YDos Reis GStroustrup B(2013)Open pattern matching for C++ACM SIGPLAN Notices10.1145/2637365.251722249:3(33-42)Online publication date: 27-Oct-2013
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2637365.2517222
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Robust scripting via patterns
1. Software and its engineering
  1. Software notations and tools
    1. General programming languages
      1. Language features
        Control structures
        Patterns

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Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image ACM SIGPLAN Notices

ACM SIGPLAN Notices Volume 48, Issue 2

DLS '12

February 2013

114 pages

ISSN:0362-1340

EISSN:1558-1160

DOI:10.1145/2480360

Issue’s Table of Contents

DLS '12: Proceedings of the 8th symposium on Dynamic languages
October 2012
128 pages
ISBN:9781450315647
DOI:10.1145/2384577
Program Chair:
Alessandro Warth
Google, USA

Copyright © 2012 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 22 October 2012

Published in SIGPLAN Volume 48, Issue 2

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Cited By

Kohn Tvan Rossum GBucher II GTalin Levkivskyi I(2020)Dynamic pattern matching with PythonProceedings of the 16th ACM SIGPLAN International Symposium on Dynamic Languages10.1145/3426422.3426983(85-98)Online publication date: 17-Nov-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3426422.3426983
Nedzved ABelotserkovsky ALukashevich P(2015)Building the regional system for seismic data processing2015 International Conference on Information and Digital Technologies10.1109/DT.2015.7222981(261-265)Online publication date: Jul-2015
https://doi.org/10.1109/DT.2015.7222981
Solodkyy YDos Reis GStroustrup B(2013)Open pattern matching for C++ACM SIGPLAN Notices10.1145/2637365.251722249:3(33-42)Online publication date: 27-Oct-2013
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2637365.2517222
Solodkyy YDos Reis GStroustrup BJärvi JKästner C(2013)Open pattern matching for C++Proceedings of the 12th international conference on Generative programming: concepts & experiences10.1145/2517208.2517222(33-42)Online publication date: 27-Oct-2013
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2517208.2517222
Isradisaikul CMyers A(2013)Reconciling exhaustive pattern matching with objectsACM SIGPLAN Notices10.1145/2499370.246219448:6(343-354)Online publication date: 16-Jun-2013
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2499370.2462194
Isradisaikul CMyers ABoehm HFlanagan C(2013)Reconciling exhaustive pattern matching with objectsProceedings of the 34th ACM SIGPLAN Conference on Programming Language Design and Implementation10.1145/2491956.2462194(343-354)Online publication date: 16-Jun-2013
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2491956.2462194
Belotserkovsky ANedzved ALukashevich P(2013)Flexible task-driven system for image processingThe International Conference on Digital Technologies 201310.1109/DT.2013.6566276(1-5)Online publication date: May-2013
https://doi.org/10.1109/DT.2013.6566276

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