streecmp/README

+==============+
|   streecmp   |
+==============+

    Fast*er* string comparison - an alternative to thousands of strcmp calls

    This is an O(n) solution - n being the length of the string to be checked. 
    A plus is that this method will stay O(n) *no matter the length of the
    string nor the number of strings to be checked against*. 

    Potential minuses might be the additional memory needed to store the trie
    data structure or the computational time required to generate the tree
    before utilizing it. Therefore, users are advised to use a secure, fast 
    hashmap instead of streecmp. streecmp is only applied to specific scenarios
    where a rather simple or fast solution for string comparison is required 
    so the project moves on.

    RES: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trie
    RES: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffix_tree
    RES: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radix_tree
    RES: facweb.cs.depaul.edu/mobasher/classes/csc575/Suffix_Trees/index.html

TECHNICALS

    struct nod 
        * data structure that represents a node of the tree
    void frenod(struct nod *nod)
        * free memory of node and all of its children
    struct nod *allocnod(void)
        * allocate memory for a node and its pool size for 
            character hashmap
        * returns: poiner to said node or NULL if function fails
    struct nod *mknod(struct nod *nod, int loc)
        * create a child node below given parent node
        * loc is the character of the node (consult source code 
            of mkstr for more information) 
        * returns: pointer to said node or NULL if function fails
    int mkstr(struct nod *nod, char *str)
        * fit string into tree if it does not already exist
        * warning: string has to be null-byte terminated 
        * returns: the assigned ID of the string, 0 if string 
            is already inside tree, or -1 if function fails
    int gentree(struct nod *nod, char *strs, char *delim)
        * generate tree from character seperated strings
        * if delim is NULL, then "\n" is assumed
        * warning: seperation character is '\n'
        * returns: 0 if ok or -1 if function fails
    int streecmp(struct nod *nod, char *str) 
        * traverse tree and search for str
        * returns: id of string or 0 if there is no match

    test.c provides a practical example for comparing against 
    HTTP header fields

LEAKS

    LEAKS file contains the most recent valgrind memory leaks 
    dump ran on test.c.

TODO

    * feat: ++strong++ and --loose-- comparison

COMMITS
    
    Each commit is prefixed with an indicator token of what the change is
    *mostly* about. List of tokens is: 
    
        * repo: change docs or code style
        * feat: implement new change
        * fix: implement fix for a bug