DWIM region (was: Re: count regexp hits)

[Emanuel Berg]

BTW this method on acting on the region (if
any) I have found very useful and it has
recurred many times in my code: 

    (defun count-regexp-hits (regexp)
      (interactive "sregexp: ")
      (let*((region (if mark-active
                        `(,(region-beginning) ,(region-end))
                      `(,(point-min) ,(point-max)) ))
            (start (car  region))
            (end   (cadr region)) )
        (count-matches regexp start end t) ))

Is it the canonical way of doing it as well?

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