What's in Friedl's book about that topic is misleading at best. Friedl freely admits that he doesn't care for the underlying theory.
I followed that same link when I first read your article and still have no idea what you are referring to. Would you please quote the statement where he expresses his feelings about the underlying theory?

In reply to Re^3: Perl regexp matching is slow?? by ysth
in thread Perl regexp matching is slow?? by smahesh

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