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match

A kind of "destructuring case".

"match", like "case", matches its first argument or the incoming f.ret.

It can do what "case" can do:

match v0
  0; 'zero'
  1; 'one'
  else; v0

(Please note that "case" accepts arrays of possible values, while "match" does not, it reads arrays on the left side as patterns (see destructuring arrays below))

But it can also destructure arrays:

# the classical FizzBuzz
match [ (% i 3) (% i 5) ]
  [ 0 0 ]; 'FizzBuzz'
  [ 0 _ ]; 'Fizz'
  [ _ 0 ]; 'Buzz'
  else; i

and objects:

match
 { type: 'car', brand: b, model: m }; "a $(b) model $(m)"
 { type: 'train', destination: d }; "a train heading for $(d)"
 else; "an unidentified mobile object"

Note the general left-side; right-side structure. There is a pattern on the left-side as a condition and a consequent on the right-side. Variables may be bound in the left-side and accessed in the right-side consequent. In the above example, the "brand" is bound under the variable b and thus accessed in the consequent (which just builds a string that will be the return value of the whole "match").

Note that this "left-side / right-side" distinction is arbitrary. The code above may be written equivalently as

match
 { type: 'car', brand: b, model: m }
 "a $(b) model $(m)"
 { type: 'train', destination: d }
 "a train heading for $(d)"
 else
 "an unidentified mobile object"

destructuring arrays

match
  [ 1 _ ]; "an array with 2 elements, first one is 1"
  [ 1 _ 3 ]; "3 elts, starts with 1, ends with 3"
  [ 1 ___ 3 ]; "2 or more elts, starts with 1, ends with 3"
  [ a__2 __3 ]; "first 2 elts are $(a), in total 5 elts"

Note the _ that matches a single element, the ___ that matches the "rest" but can be declined in {binding-name}__{_|count}, for example, the a__2 above means "take 2 elements and bind them under 'a'.

destructuring objects

As seen above, match with an object pattern lets one destructure and match.

match
 { type: 'car', brand: b, model: m }; "a $(b) model $(m)"
 { type: 'train', destination: d }; "a train heading for $(d)"
 else; "an unidentified mobile object"

only

By default, "match" only looks at the keys given by the pattern. If there are entries under other keys in the value, it doesn't care, it matches. With "only", it expects the value to have the same keys as the pattern.

set o { 'type': 'car', 'brand': 'simca' }
set msg0
  match o
   { type: 'car' }; "it's a car"       # <=== matches here
   else; "it's something else"
set msg1
  match o
   { type: 'car' } only; "it's a car"
   else; "it's something else"         # <=== matches here

quote: "keys"

By default, the keys in the pattern are extrapolated.

set a 'A'
set b 'B'
match
  { a: 1, b: 2 }; 'match'
  else; 'no-match'

is thus equivalent to

match
  { 'A': 1, 'B': 2 }; 'match'
  else; 'no-match'

One can make sure keys are not extrapolated by quoting them all or by using the quote: keys attribute on the pattern:

match
  { a: 1, b: 2 } quote: keys; 'match'
  else; 'no-match'

Probably, quoting manually makes the pattern easier to read than forcing quote: keys on it.

deep keys

The object pattern is OK with "deep keys", keys pointing at subelements in the object being matched.

set o { player: { name: 'Eldred', 'number': 55 } }
# ...
match o
  { player.name: 'Eldred' }; 'USA'   # <=== will match here
  { player.name: 'Johnson' }; 'USA'
  else; 'Japan'

"or"

match
  { age: (99 or 100) }; 'match'
  else; 'no-match'

"or!"

Using "or!" forces match not to transform "or" into "_pat_or". "or" thus stays the boolean logic "or" and returns true or false (while the "or", _pat_or above returns match/no-match in the "match" context).

"or!" is best used in conjunction with "guard"

match
  { age: (guard a (or! (a < 10) (a > 99))) }; "kid or centenary"
  else; "normal age"

"bind"

"bind" binds explicitely a value and allows for a sub-pattern.

match [ 1 4 ]
  [ 1 (bind y (or 2 3)) ]; "match y:$(y)"
  [ 1 (bind x (or 4 5)) ]; "match x:$(x)"
  else; 'no-match'

Behind the scenes, "bind" is an alias for "guard".

"guard"

"guard", like "bind" and "or" is used inside of array or object patterns to run a condition on some element or entry.

set title
  match
    { age: (guard a (> 35)), function: f }; "senior $(f)"
    { sex: 'female' }; 'ms'
    else; 'mr'

"guard" takes at least a name argument, then optional pattern or conditional arguments. The name is bound and available in the pattern / conditional arguments.

(guard {name})
(guard {name} {pattern|conditional}*)

see also

Case, if, cond.