Re: What is the difference between looking-at and an anchored search?

[Lennart Borgman]

On 7/17/08, Miles Bader <address@hidden> wrote:

> "Lennart Borgman (gmail)" <address@hidden> writes:
> > looking-at does not have a BOUND parameter, but re-search-forward
> > have. This makes re-search-forward a bit more flexible.
> >
> > I am looking at some code where I would have use for that flexibility,
> > but I wonder if there is any drawback with replacing looking-at with
> > re-search-forward (with an achored pattern).
> >
> > Is there any? Performance?
>
> If you want to reject matches that extend past some point, just do
> something like:
>
>   (and (looking-at REGEXP) (<= (match-end 0) BOUND))

 

Thanks Miles,

 

Yes, that is one possibility. But then perhaps I would assume that re-search-forward better might optimize that search since it can (in theory) cut off the searching at BOUND. In the case I am looking at performance is important.