Editing String-searching algorithm (section)

{{short description|Searching for patterns in text}}
A '''string-searching algorithm''', sometimes called '''string-matching algorithm''', is an [[algorithm]] that searches a body of [[string (computer science)|text]] for portions that match by pattern.

A basic example of string searching is when the pattern and the searched text are [[Array data structure|arrays]] of elements of an [[Alphabet (computer science)|alphabet]] ([[finite set]]) Σ.  Σ may be a human language alphabet, for example, the letters ''A'' through ''Z'' and other applications may use a ''binary alphabet'' (Σ = {0,1}) or a ''DNA alphabet'' (Σ = {A,C,G,T}) in [[bioinformatics]].

In practice, the method of feasible string-search algorithm may be affected by the string encoding. In particular, if a [[variable-width encoding]] is in use, then it may be slower to find the ''N''th character, perhaps requiring time proportional to ''N''. This may significantly slow some search algorithms. One of many possible solutions is to search for the sequence of code units instead, but doing so may produce false matches unless the encoding is specifically designed to avoid it.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}