Why Sigil Uses match

Update (2026-03-26): match is now Sigil's one branching surface,

including boolean and tuple branching. The compiler also rejects

non-exhaustive matches and dead arms. See

[033-exhaustive-match-and-proof-rich-compile-errors](/sigil/articles/exhaustive-match-and-proof-rich-compile-errors/).

Sigil previously used a symbolic form for pattern matching. It now uses the keyword match.

The Decision

The change was driven by the same criteria behind several other syntax updates:

• token cost in real programs
• compatibility with the priors of coding agents
• preservation of one canonical surface form

The older symbolic form was compact, but match performed better when measured in surrounding code and was easier to generate correctly in ordinary editing and tooling contexts.

Why This Fits Sigil

Pattern matching is too central a feature to optimize mainly for visual novelty. It needs to be easy to recognize, easy to tokenize, and easy to generate consistently.

Using match makes the construct more legible to both humans and tools without reintroducing multiple spellings for the same concept.