Lei Bu Preliminary Introduction to the Theory of Computation
This course: A study of abstract models of computers and computation. Why theory, when computer field is so practical? Theory provides concepts and principles, for both hardware and software that help us understand the general nature of the field.
3 Why Study Automata? A survey of Stanford grads 5 years out asked which of their courses did they use in their job. Basics like intro-programming took the top spots, of course. But among optional courses, formal language and automata stood remarkably high.
4 How Could That Be? Regular expressions are used in many systems. E.g., UNIX a.*b. E.g., DTD ’ s describe XML tags with a RE format like person (name, addr, child*). Finite automata model protocols, electronic circuits.
5 How? – (2) Context-free grammars are used to describe the syntax of essentially every programming language. Not to forget their important role in describing natural languages.
6 How? – (3) When developing solutions to real problems, we often confront the limitations of what software can do. Undecidable things – no program whatever can do it. Intractable things – there are programs, but no fast programs. Automata theory gives you the tools.
Outline Part 1: Preliminaries Mathematical Knowledge String and Language Part 2: Finite Automata and Regular Expression Context Free Grammar and Pushdown Automata Turing Automata
Part 3 Modeling: Transition System Petri Net Timed and Hybrid Automata Message Sequence Chart Part 4: Tutorials Computability Model Checking Trustworthy Software
Textbook John E. Hopcroft, Rajeev Motwani, Jeffery D.Ullman. Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation, 3/E. Pearson Education India, (The Cinderella Book) Referred Reading Michael Sipser. Introduction to the Theory of Computation, 2nd Edition,Course Technology, Derick Wood. Theory of Computation. HAPPER & ROW, Doron Peled. Software Reliability Methods. Springer, 2011 WEB
Grading Assignment 30% Distributed in Class, due in next week. Final Exam 70%