Portfolio Project - Intro to IT - Software Development Concepts

Speeding Up Log Searches with a Pattern Searching Algorithm

Tired of digging through endless logs just to find one pesky error? A pattern searching algorithm can do all the heavy lifting for you, saving you tons of time. Instead of sifting through log after log, this algorithm scans them for you, looking for specific keywords like "ERROR" or "FAILURE." It’s like having a super-fast assistant to help you out.

Here's how it works: You give the algorithm the pattern you want to find and a list of logs. It checks if there are logs to search, then if you’ve provided a pattern. If something’s missing, it lets you know with messages like “No logs to search” or “No pattern provided.” If everything’s good, it searches through each log, saving any that match the pattern. Once done, it either gives you the list of matches or says, “No pattern found.”

The process is simple, as you can see in this flowchart.

Here’s the pseudocode to give you a peek at the logic behind it:

define pattern
define log or logs
create list_of_logs = []

if list_of_logs is empty:
  "No logs to search"
  end

if pattern is empty:
  "No pattern provided"
  end

create pattern_present = []

for each log in list_of_logs:
  if pattern is found in the log:
    append the log to pattern_present
  end if
end for

if pattern_present is empty:
  "No pattern found"
  end

return the pattern_present list
end

And that's it! With this simple algorithm, you'll breeze through your logs, find exactly what you need, and move on to bigger things.