def boyer_moore(P, T):
    """Search for P in T using the Boyer Moore algorithm assuming a ascii
       character set."""
    
    pattern_length = len(P)
    length = len(T) - pattern_length + 1
    
    # create a failure function. this list will keep track of the last position
    # of each character in the pattern. this will help us jump ahead while
    # trying to match the pattern in the text
    fail = [-1 for i in range(0, 128)]
    i = 0
    for c in P:
        fail[ord(c)] = i
        i = i+1
    
    # j is the current position in the pattern, starting from the end. i is
    # the current position in the text, starting from the beginning.
    j = pattern_length - 1 # j will decrease as characters are matched
    i = 0 # i will increase as characters aren't matched
    
    # while there are still characters to look at. length is the text length
    # minus the pattern length. We don't need go over those characters with i
    # because j will get them.
    while i < length:
                
        # we've matched the pattern, it starts at position i
        if j < 0:
            return i
        
        # we've matched a character
        if P[j] is T[i+j]:
                        
            # matched a character, keep going
            j = j-1
            
        # skip ahead if we can
        else:
            # get the last position in the pattern of the current character in
            # the text. pos will be -1 if the character doesn't exist in the
            # pattern
            pos = fail[ord(T[i+j])]

            # the current character in the text exists in the pattern. If its
            # last position is beyond where we are currently looking then we
            # will shift past it.
            if pos > j:
                i = i+j+1
            
            # the character in the text exists in the pattern, lets align the
            # text such to that character
            elif -1 < pos <= j:
                i = i+(j-pos)
            
            # the character in the text doesn't exist in the pattern, lets
            # shift beyond it   
            else:
                i = i+j+1
            
            j = pattern_length - 1
    
    # the pattern was not found in the text
    return -1
    

print "Found 'abc' in 'abababc' at index:", boyer_moore("abc", "abababc")

Found 'abc' in 'abababc' at index: 4