%0 Journal Article %1 SPE:SPE4380251203 %A Boehm, Hans-J. %A Atkinson, Russ %A Plass, Michael %D 1995 %I John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. %J Software: Practice and Experience %K heavyweight performance programming strings %N 12 %P 1315--1330 %R 10.1002/spe.4380251203 %T Ropes: An alternative to strings %U http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/spe.4380251203 %V 25 %X Abstract Programming languages generally provide a ‘string’ or ‘text’ type to allow manipulation of sequences of characters. This type is usually of crucial importance, since it is normally mentioned in most interfaces between system components. We claim that the traditional implementations of strings, and often the supported functionality, are not well suited to such general-purpose use. They should be confined to applications with specific, and unusual, performance requirements. We present ‘ropes’ or ‘heavyweight’ strings as an alternative that, in our experience leads to systems that are more robust, both in functionality and in performance.Ropes have been in use in the Cedar environment almost since its inception, but this appears to be neither well-known, nor discussed in the literature. The algorithms have been gradually refined. We have also recently built a second similar, but somewhat lighter weight, C-language implementation, which is included in our publically released garbage collector distribution. We describe the algorithms used in both, and give some performance measurements for the C version.

@article{SPE:SPE4380251203, abstract = {Abstract Programming languages generally provide a ‘string’ or ‘text’ type to allow manipulation of sequences of characters. This type is usually of crucial importance, since it is normally mentioned in most interfaces between system components. We claim that the traditional implementations of strings, and often the supported functionality, are not well suited to such general-purpose use. They should be confined to applications with specific, and unusual, performance requirements. We present ‘ropes’ or ‘heavyweight’ strings as an alternative that, in our experience leads to systems that are more robust, both in functionality and in performance.Ropes have been in use in the Cedar environment almost since its inception, but this appears to be neither well-known, nor discussed in the literature. The algorithms have been gradually refined. We have also recently built a second similar, but somewhat lighter weight, C-language implementation, which is included in our publically released garbage collector distribution. We describe the algorithms used in both, and give some performance measurements for the C version.}, added-at = {2011-08-16T11:28:45.000+0200}, author = {Boehm, Hans-J. and Atkinson, Russ and Plass, Michael}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2a100e4729cf7a94f0994fe2bd39a0745/schmidt2}, description = {Ropes: An alternative to strings - Boehm - 2006 - Software: Practice and Experience - Wiley Online Library}, doi = {10.1002/spe.4380251203}, interhash = {e4824db34a27ce00f578dd793b299779}, intrahash = {a100e4729cf7a94f0994fe2bd39a0745}, issn = {1097-024X}, journal = {Software: Practice and Experience}, keywords = {heavyweight performance programming strings}, number = 12, pages = {1315--1330}, publisher = {John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.}, timestamp = {2011-08-16T11:28:45.000+0200}, title = {Ropes: An alternative to strings}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/spe.4380251203}, volume = 25, year = 1995 }