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Optimising First-Class Pattern Matching

Conference Paper (2022)
Author(s)

J. Smits (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)

Toine Hartman (External organisation)

Jesper Cockx (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)

Research Group
Programming Languages
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1145/3567512.3567519 Final published version
More Info
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Publication Year
2022
Language
English
Related content
Research Group
Programming Languages
Pages (from-to)
74-83
ISBN (print)
978-1-4503-9919-7
Event
The 15th ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Software Language Engineering (2022-12-06 - 2022-12-07), Auckland , New Zealand
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237
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Abstract

Pattern matching is a high-level notation for programs to analyse the shape of data, and can be optimised to efficient low-level instructions. The Stratego language uses first-class pattern matching, a powerful form of pattern matching that traditional optimisation techniques do not apply to directly.
In this paper, we investigate how to optimise programs that use first-class pattern matching. Concretely, we show how to map first-class pattern matching to a form close to traditional pattern matching, on which standard optimisations can be applied.
Through benchmarks, we demonstrate the positive effect of these optimisations on the run-time performance of Stratego programs. We conclude that the expressive power of first-class pattern matching does not hamper the optimisation potential of a language that features it.