pattern-match

A pattern matching DSL for JavaScript. The module is a function that takes an arbitrary JavaScript value and tests it against a pattern. If the match succeeds, the result is a sub-match object, which consists of the sub-components of the value that matched named sub-patterns (using the var pattern). If the match fails, a MatchError is thrown.

Usage

Here's a simple example of using pattern matching to analyze an AST for a hypothetical language:

var match = require('pattern-match');

match(ast, function(when) {
    when({
        type: 'FunctionCall',
        callee: match.var('callee'),
        args: match.var('args')
    }, function(vars) {
        this.analyzeFunctionCall(vars.callee, vars.args);
    }, this);

    when({
        type: 'Assignment',
        lhs: match.var('lhs'),
        rhs: match.var('rhs')
    }, function(vars) {
        this.analyzeAssignment(vars.lhs, vars.rhs);
    }, this);

    when({
        type: 'Return',
        arg: match.var('arg')
    }, function(vars) {
        this.analyzeReturn(vars.arg);
    }, this);
}, this);

This will get sweeter in ES6 with destructuring:

var match = require('pattern-match');

match(ast, function(when) {
    when({
        type: 'FunctionCall',
        callee: match.var('callee'),
        args: match.var('args')
    }, function({ callee, args }) {
        this.analyzeFunctionCall(callee, args);
    }, this);

    when({
        type: 'Assignment',
        lhs: match.var('lhs'),
        rhs: match.var('rhs')
    }, function({ lhs, rhs }) {
        this.analyzeAssignment(lhs, rhs);
    }, this);

    when({
        type: 'Return',
        arg: match.var('arg')
    }, function({ arg }) {
        this.analyzeReturn(arg);
    }, this);
}, this);

And sweeter still with ES6 arrow-functions:

var match = require('pattern-match');

match(ast, (when) => {
    when({
        type: 'FunctionCall',
        callee: match.var('callee'),
        args: match.var('args')
    }, ({ callee, args }) => {
        this.analyzeFunctionCall(callee, args);
    });

    when({
        type: 'Assignment',
        lhs: match.var('lhs'),
        rhs: match.var('rhs')
    }, ({ lhs, rhs }) => {
        this.analyzeAssignment(lhs, rhs);
    });

    when({
        type: 'Return',
        arg: match.var('arg')
    }, ({ arg }) => {
        this.analyzeReturn(arg);
    });
});

API

Entry points

• match(x, body)

Match x against a sequence of patterns, returning the result of the first successful match. The cases are provided by the body function:

• body(when)

Provides the cases by calling when in the order the cases should be tried.

• when(pattern[, template[, thisArg]])

Provides the next case, consisting of a pattern an optional template. If matching the pattern succeeds, the result is passed to template with thisArg bound to this (defaults to the global object). If template is not provided, this case produces the sub-match object.

• match(x).when(pattern[, template[, thisArg]])

Match x against a single pattern. Returns the result of calling template on the sub-match object with thisArg (or the global object by default) as the binding of this. If template is not provided, returns the sub-match object.

Patterns

• match.any - matches any value.
• match.primitive - matches any primitive (non-object) value.
• match.object - matches any non-null object.
• match.array - matches anything Array.isArray matches.
• match.function - assumes the pattern is a boolean-valued function and matches any value for which the function returns true.
• match.null - matches the null value.
• match.undefined - matches the undefined value.
• match.boolean - matches any boolean value.
• match.number - matches any number value.
• match.string - matches any string value.
• match.var(name[, pattern]) - matches the pattern (defaults to any) and saves the value in the sub-match object with property name name.
• pred(testValue) - matches any value for which pred returns a truthy value.
• { x1: pattern1, ..., xn: patternn } - matches any object with property names x1 to xn matching patterns pattern1 to patternn, respectively. Only the own properties of the pattern are used.
• [ pattern0, ..., patternn ] - matches any object with property names 0 to n matching patterns pattern0 to patternn, respectively.

Custom patterns

You can create custom patterns by extending the root pattern prototype.

• match.pattern - the root pattern prototype.

Match errors

• match.MatchError - an object extending Error that represents a failed pattern-match.
  • e.expected - the expected pattern.
  • e.actual - the actual value tested.