String matching is a process of finding a smaller string inside a larger text. For example, searching for the word “apple” in a paragraph. It is useful in areas like text search, data analysis and more. There are two types of string matching algorithms:

1. Exact String Matching Algorithms
2. Approximate String Matching Algorithms

To understand more about matching algorithms refer to: String Matching Algorithms

Below are some of the Applications of String Matching Algorithms:

1. Plagiarism Detection

To check if a document is copied, string matching is used as it break the content into smaller parts like words or sentences and compare them with other documents. If many similar parts are found the document may be marked as plagiarized. This is how tools like Turnitin or Grammarly work to find copied content.

Plagiarism Detection

2. Bioinformatics and DNA Sequencing

In biology DNA is like a long string made up of letters A, T, G and C. String matching helps scientists to search for specific patterns in DNA. This can help in identifying diseases, mutations or matching genes in different organisms. It’s like finding a tiny needle in a haystack using smart search.

DNA Sequencing

3. Spelling Checker

Whenever you misspell a word in your phone or computer it quickly suggests the correct spelling. This happens because a dictionary of correct words is stored in memory. A Trie or Automata structure is built from this dictionary. When you type a word it is checked letter by letter through this structure to find a correct match or highlight an error.

Spelling checker

4. Spam Filters

Emails that contain unwanted or suspicious content are called spam. Spam filters use string matching to check if an email contains certain keywords like “win money” or “click here.” If such words are found the email is flagged as spam.

Spam Filters

5. Search Engines and Large Databases

When you search for something online or in an app string matching helps you find what you need. It matches the words you typed with content stored in websites or databases. This helps show you the most relevant results in just seconds.

Search Engine

6. Malicious Data Detection System

To protect computers from hackers and viruses, systems watches all the data coming in network. They use string matching to look for known dangerous patterns (like virus code). If a match is found, system raises an alarm to block the threat.

Intrusion_Detection_system

String matching helps us every day from checking spelling to detecting copied content it is used everywhere.