208: Regular Expressions - Revision history

FaviFake: /* Trivia */ Updated xkcd store link with Web archive link

2023-09-01T09:40:45Z

‎Trivia: Updated xkcd store link with Web archive link

DownGoer: I don't think "citation needed" is appropriate here.

2023-06-26T14:14:26Z

I don't think "citation needed" is appropriate here.

172.69.42.81: /* Transcript */

2022-10-16T19:44:06Z

‎Transcript

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2022-05-26T19:50:17Z

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2022-05-26T19:06:27Z

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2022-05-26T18:01:43Z

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2022-05-26T17:07:58Z

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Theusaf: Reverted edits by 👖🔥 (talk) to last revision by Jacky720

2022-05-11T18:44:32Z

Reverted edits by 👖🔥 (talk) to last revision by Jacky720

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👖🔥 at 17:45, 11 May 2022

2022-05-11T17:45:33Z

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Jacky720: rv

2022-05-04T23:51:54Z

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@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
 The comic begins with [[Randall]] saying how every time he develops a new skill, he finds himself daydreaming about using it to save the day. Computer skills aren't usually superhero material, which lends itself to the humor of the comic. In computing, a {{w|regular expression}} ("regex") provides a concise and flexible means to "match" (specify and recognize) strings of text, such as particular characters, words, or patterns of characters. Manually trying to look for a specific pattern through 200 MB of text is equivalent to looking for a needle in a haystack. But this task can be made easy by using regexes, since a script can read through text and match specific string patterns much faster than humans can achieve. {{w|Perl}} is a popular scripting language that has often been referenced favorably in the comic. Perl is also the most acknowledged language when it comes to the performance while evaluating regular expressions. The "PERL!" in the fifth panel is reminiscent of old superhero serials, particularly {{w|Batman (TV series)}}, in which sound effects such as "BAM!" "POW!" "ZAP!" would be displayed on screen in similar spiky bubbles. This fits with the theme of the comic, with Cueball being a "superhero" who fights crime using computer skills.
 The title text refers to how sensitive regexes can be to small mistakes or missing characters. In [[1168: tar]], another potential hero fails (and gets blown up by a nuclear bomb that is only able to be disarmed by typing in a valid tar command, but blows up if you don't do it on the first try) because the syntax of some commands and programming languages are just too difficult to remember by heart.
@@ Line 42: / Line 33: @@
 ==Trivia==
-*This comic is featured on one of the [http://shop.xkcd.com/products/i-know-regular-expressions T-shirts] sold at the xkcd store.
+This comic used to be [https://web.archive.org/web/20160422073536/http://shop.xkcd.com:80/products/i-know-regular-expressions available as a T-shirt] in the xkcd store before it was [[Store|shut down]]. There was also a [https://web.archive.org/web/20220125010600/https://store.xkcd.com/products/try-science similar T-shirt] based on this comic says "Stand back... I'm going to try science.".
 {{comic discussion}}
 [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 Manually trying to look for a specific pattern through 200 MB of text is equivalent to looking for a needle in a haystack. But this task can be made easy by using regexes, since a script can read through text and match specific string patterns much faster than humans can achieve.
-{{w|Perl}} is a popular scripting language that has often been referenced favorably in the comic. Perl is also the most acknowledged language when it comes to the performance while evaluating regular expressions.{{Citation needed}}
+{{w|Perl}} is a popular scripting language that has often been referenced favorably in the comic. Perl is also the most acknowledged language when it comes to the performance while evaluating regular expressions.
 The "PERL!" in the fifth panel is reminiscent of old superhero serials, particularly {{w|Batman (TV series)}}, in which sound effects such as "BAM!" "POW!" "ZAP!" would be displayed on screen in similar spiky bubbles. This fits with the theme of the comic, with Cueball being a "superhero" who fights crime using computer skills.

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:44, 16 October 2022
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	==Transcript==		==Transcript==
		+	:[in a yellow box:]
	:Whenever I learn a new skill I concoct elaborate fantasy scenarios where it lets me save the day.		:Whenever I learn a new skill I concoct elaborate fantasy scenarios where it lets me save the day.