GNU bug report logs - #31584
27.0.50; Document again what match re-search-backward finds

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From: Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
To: Noam Postavsky <npostavs <at> gmail.com>, Eric Abrahamsen <eric <at> ericabrahamsen.net>
Cc: 31584 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#31584: 27.0.50; Document again what match re-search-backward finds
Date: Thu, 24 May 2018 17:28:54 -0700 (PDT)

> It is greedy:
> (with-temp-buffer
>   (insert "xxxxyyyy")
>   (and (re-search-backward "x+y*" nil t) (match-string 0))) ;=> "xyyyy"
> 
> Non-greedy wouldn't match any "y"s.  It's a bit tricky to explain both
> correctly and clearly...

Maybe it would help to say that the pattern is always matched in a forward direction, even when it matches text that is before point.

The pattern itself is not read backward (you don't write +x*y
for the reverse search of x+y*), and it doesn't match backward.

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