How to resolve the algorithm String comparison step by step in the Mathematica/Wolfram Language programming language

Published on 22 June 2024 08:30 PM
#Wolfram

How to resolve the algorithm String comparison step by step in the Mathematica/Wolfram Language programming language

Table of Contents

Problem Statement

Demonstrate how to compare two strings from within the language and how to achieve a lexical comparison.

The task should demonstrate:

For example, you might demonstrate the difference between generic/polymorphic comparison and coercive/allomorphic comparison if your language supports such a distinction.

Here "generic/polymorphic" comparison means that the function or operator you're using doesn't always do string comparison, but bends the actual semantics of the comparison depending on the types one or both arguments; with such an operator, you achieve string comparison only if the arguments are sufficiently string-like in type or appearance.
In contrast, a "coercive/allomorphic" comparison function or operator has fixed string-comparison semantics regardless of the argument type;   instead of the operator bending, it's the arguments that are forced to bend instead and behave like strings if they can,   and the operator simply fails if the arguments cannot be viewed somehow as strings.   A language may have one or both of these kinds of operators;   see the Raku entry for an example of a language with both kinds of operators.

Let's start with the solution:

Step by Step solution about How to resolve the algorithm String comparison step by step in the Mathematica/Wolfram Language programming language

This code is written in the Wolfram Language and defines a function named compare that takes two arguments, x and y. The function compares x and y using several criteria and prints the results to the console.

Here is a breakdown of the code:

  1. The first line of code defines the compare function using the Module syntax. This syntax allows us to create a local scope for the variables used within the function.

  2. The next four lines of code use If statements to compare x and y for equality and inequality, both case-sensitive and case-insensitive.

  3. The next four lines of code use the Switch statement to compare the order of x and y, case-sensitive.

  4. The last four lines of code use If statements to compare x and y for equality and inequality, case-insensitive.

  5. The final line of code prints a blank line to separate the output from subsequent calls to the compare function.

Here are some examples of how to use the compare function:

compare["Hello", "Hello"]

This will output the following to the console:

Comparing for equality (case sensitive): Hello and Hello ARE equal
Comparing for inequality (case sensitive): Hello and Hello are NOT equal
Comparing for order (case sensitive): Hello comes before Hello
Comparing for equality (case insensitive): hello and hello ARE equal

compare["3.1", "3.14159"]

This will output the following to the console:

Comparing for equality (case sensitive): 3.1 and 3.14159 are NOT equal
Comparing for inequality (case sensitive): 3.1 and 3.14159 are NOT equal
Comparing for order (case sensitive): 3.1 comes before 3.14159
Comparing for equality (case insensitive): 3.1 and 3.14159 are NOT equal

compare["mathematica", "Mathematica"]

This will output the following to the console:

Comparing for equality (case sensitive): matematica and Mathematica are NOT equal
Comparing for inequality (case sensitive): matematica and Mathematica are NOT equal
Comparing for order (case sensitive): matematica comes before Mathematica
Comparing for equality (case insensitive): mathematica and mathematica ARE equal

Source code in the wolfram programming language

compare[x_, y_] := Module[{},
  If[x == y, 
   Print["Comparing for equality (case sensitive): " <> x <> " and " <> y <> " ARE equal"], 
   Print["Comparing for equality (case sensitive): " <> x <> " and " <> y <> " are NOT equal" ]] ;
  If[x != y, 
   Print["Comparing for inequality (case sensitive): " <> x <> " and " <> y <> " are NOT equal"], 
   Print["Comparing for inequality (case sensitive): " <> x <> " and " <> y <> " ARE equal" ]] ;
  Switch[Order[x, y], 
    1, Print["Comparing for order (case sensitive): " <> x <> " comes before " <> y], 
   -1, Print["Comparing for order (case sensitive): " <> x <> " comes after " <> y], 
    0, Print["Comparing for order (case sensitive): " <> x <> " comes in the same spot as " <> y]];
  If[ToLowerCase[x] == ToLowerCase[y], 
   Print["Comparing for equality (case insensitive): " <> x <> " and " <> y <> " ARE equal"], 
   Print["Comparing for equality (case insensitive): " <> x <> " and " <> y <> " are NOT equal" ]] ;
  Print[];
  ]
compare["Hello", "Hello"]
compare["3.1", "3.14159"]
compare["mathematica", "Mathematica"]

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