refactor and clarify cutoff in String.edit_distance

src/core/CCString.ml

@@ -576,12 +576,12 @@ let compare_natural a b =
 *)
 
 let edit_distance ?(cutoff=max_int) s1 s2 =
-  if length s1 = 0
+  let n1 = length s1 in
-  then min cutoff (length s2)
+  let n2 = length s2 in
-  else if length s2 = 0
+  if n1 = 0 then min cutoff n2
-  then min cutoff (length s1)
+  else if n2 = 0 then min cutoff n1
-  else if equal s1 s2
+  else if equal s1 s2 then 0
-  then 0
+  else if n1-n2 >= cutoff || n2-n1 >= cutoff then cutoff (* at least cutoff inserts *)
   else try
     (* distance vectors (v0=previous, v1=current) *)
     let v0 = Array.make (length s2 + 1) 0 in

src/core/CCString.mli

@@ -462,9 +462,14 @@ val edit_distance : ?cutoff:int -> string -> string -> int
 (** [edit_distance ~cutoff s1 s2] is the edition distance between the two strings [s1] and [s2].
     This satisfies the classical distance axioms: it is always positive, symmetric, and satisfies
     the formula [distance s1 s2 + distance s2 s3 >= distance s1 s3].
-    @param cutoff if provided, it's a cap on both the number of iterations,
+
-      and on the result. (since 3.0). This is useful if you just want to
+    @param cutoff if provided, it's a cap on the number of iterations.
-    check whether the edit distance is less or equal than 2 (use cutoff of 3).
+      (since 3.0). This is useful if you just want to
+      check whether the edit distance is less or equal than 2 without
+      (use [edit_distance s1 s2 ~cutoff:3 <= 2]).
+      {b note} that contrary to what was previously documented here, the result can
+      still be higher than [cutoff] if it's reached in [<cutoff] iterations.
+      However if the result is [< cutoff] then it is accurate.
 *)
 
 (** {2 Infix operators}