Pattern Matching with Proplists

Because proplists are just lists, you can pattern match on them directly, though the experience is less elegant than with maps:

lfe> (set `(,first . ,rest) '((timeout 5000) (retry 3)))
((timeout 5000) (retry 3))
lfe> first
(timeout 5000)

lfe> (set `((,key ,value) . ,_) '((active true) (buffer 1024)))
((active true) (buffer 1024))
lfe> key
active
lfe> value
true

In practice, you’re more likely to use the proplists module functions rather than direct pattern matching, because proplists lack the structural guarantees that make pattern matching pleasant. They’re fundamentally lists with conventions, not types with contracts.