Introduction to a "blook" about pattern matching

This blog was intended to really be in book disguise. Thus, you might call it a "blook".

The intent is to write down in very simple terms what I know about pattern matching. I want to make this subject accessible to just about anyone. And, the fact is that it should be. The fundamentals of the subject are trivial.

Of course, the implications, interactions, special cases, et al are very subtle and sometimes non-intuitive. Thus, it is kind of like playing "Go" or solving SuDoku puzzles. Easy to learn. Difficult to master. However, even the difficulties of the subject are actually simple, as long as one approaches them correctly and don't take inappropriate short-cuts. So, if I succeed in that, you, my reader, can grasp the topic and it will all seem simple to you. Moreover, even in those cases where you know it is complex and you must tread carefully, you will have a clear way of taking each incremental step.

I initially found that difficult because blogs tend to be structured so that one starts reading from the most recent postings first and books have a different order, where one starts at the beginning, which is generally not the most recent section. In fact, I put this project down for over two years because of that. However, realizing that one can achieve the book order by simply laying down the links one wants, I have returned to this project. If you follow the next links, at the bottom of each section, you can read what I intended the book to look like.

At the same time, I actually have need for a more normal blog on pattern matching. Thus, you will also find, outside of the linked sections, random blog entries on the topic. Over time, if they fit within the scope of the book, I will join them in the links at the appropriate places.

However, if you are trying to read this like a book, here is your first link.

Turn of the [21st] Century Pattern Matching