On obtaining the Boyer–Moore string-matching algorithm by partial evaluation

Abstract

We present the first derivation of the search phase of the Boyer–Moore string-matching algorithm by partial evaluation of an inefficient string matcher. The derivation hinges on identifying the bad-character-shift heuristic as a binding-time improvement, bounded static variation. An inefficient string matcher incorporating this binding-time improvement specializes into the search phase of the Horspool algorithm, which is a simplified variant of the Boyer–Moore algorithm. Combining the bad-character-shift binding-time improvement with our previous results yields a new binding-time-improved string matcher that specializes into the search phase of the Boyer–Moore algorithm.