Xah Talk Show 2021-04-18 Emacs Lisp. Fuzzy Matching. Explore Ido and Helm Source Code, Part 1

• 01:14:21 exceptions in programing languages, not what you think it is

Topics:

• Write a command that let user select from predefined list of choices. Using ido mode's fuzzy matching.
• Explain what the type of fuzzy matching ido is using.
• Explain that we want a word based fuzzy matching, and order does not matter.
• Explore helm M-x to see how it works.
• Optional: see how ido implements fuzzy matching.
• Why I Hate Exceptions

(defun select-choices ()
  "Select from a list of predefine choices, then insert them into buffer.
version 2021-04-18 "
  (interactive)
  (let (
        (phrases
         '(
           "This heart follows the brain of __"
           "This field closely follows the paradigm of __"
           "Widely considered to be a good way to __"
           "This has been widely adopted in the field of __"
           "This is more widely used at the time of __"
           "This phenomenon has been widely observed"
           "A common technique is to __"
           "This is a technique common in __"
           "There are several common kinds of __"
           ))
        userChoice
        )
    ;; (message "%s" (car phrases))
    (setq userChoice (ido-completing-read "Make a choice:" phrases ))
    (insert userChoice)
    ;;
    ))

;; ido fuzzy matching is a character based fuzzy matching, and order matters

;; now let's explor other tyes of fuzzy matching. In particular, let's look at helm's M-x. i know it does fuzzy matching, but word based, and order does not matter.

;; now, let's look at helm's implementation of M-x: helm-M-x

;; the call stack
;; helm-M-x
;; helm
;; helm-internal
;; helm-read-from-minibuffer

xah_talk_show_2021-04-18_transcript.txt

xah_talk_show_2021-04-18.txt