Hybrid string matching algorithm with a pivot

Pattern matching is important in text processing, molecular biology, operating systems and web search engines. Many algorithms have been developed to search for a specific pattern in a text, but the need for an efficient algorithm is an outstanding issue. In this paper, we present a simple and practical string matching algorithm. The proposed algorithm is a hybrid that combines our modification of Horspool’s algorithm with two observations on string matching. The algorithm scans the text from left to right and matches the pattern from right to left. Experimental results on natural language texts, genomes and human proteins demonstrate that the new algorithm is competitive with practical algorithms.