Re: Command Languages Versus Programming Languages

Kaz Kylheku <643-408-1753@kylheku.com> writes:

Here is an example:  using a regex match to capture a C comment /* ... */
in Lex compared to just recognizing the start sequence /* and handling
the discarding of the comment in the action.
>
Without non-greedy repetition matching, the regex for a C comment is
quite obtuse.  The procedural handling is straightforward:  read
characters until you see a * immediately followed by a /.

Regular expressions are neither greedy nor non-greedy.  One of the
key points of regular expressions is that they are declarative
rather than procedural.  Any procedural change of behavior overlaid
on a regular expression is a property of the tool, not the regular
expression.  It's easy to write a regular expression that exactly
matches a /* ... */ comment and that isn't hard to understand.