Custom Solr Query Parser Design Option, and Pros & Cons

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Does your search application include a custom query syntax with various search operators such as Booleans, proximity, term or phrase frequency, capitalization, quoted text or as-is operator, and other advanced operators? Although most search applications offer a natural language-oriented search box, some advanced applications may also offer a custom query syntax for advanced users or automated tasks. The Lucene "classic" query operators that are supported by the Solr edismax query parser (Boolean, phrase with slop, wildcard, etc.) cover a good amount of use cases, but they only get you so far. In this talk, we will explore various strategies to support a custom and advanced query syntax in Solr, covering a spectrum of options from leveraging the out-of-the-box Solr query DSL, to a custom Solr query parser, and hybrid solutions in between. We will identify the options' pros and cons, discuss relevancy considerations, and illustrate the options in Java.