Pattern-matching mathematical expressions#
Numbas includes a sophisticated pattern-matching algorithm for mathematical expressions. The algorithm decides whether an input expression matches a given pattern, and also identifies named matching groups, which are sub-expressions of the input expression.
Pattern-matching is used to power the simplification rules, as well as to establish the form of mathematical expressions entered by the student.
The pattern-matcher should be considered to work similarly to a regular expression algorithm, except it operates on algebraic syntax trees instead of text strings.