optimization question

[Andrew Koenig]

> I don't like this design. Here is something wrong... What exactly
> you want to do by this? Maybe you want something like:

>        t in s

> ...or regexps or...?

Nope.  I'm not searching one string for another, I'm asking whether
a particular string contains a particular substring at a particular point.

I'm working on a library that I hope will ultimately be used by data
analysis to retrieve information from poorly specified input data
sets, and I want to avoid passing performance surprises on to my users
where I can.  Because I can't anticipate how they're going to use it,
I can't be assured of constructing tests that will reveal such problems.


-- 
Andrew Koenig, ark at research.att.com, http://www.research.att.com/info/ark