Instructor: Fred Annexstein
Description: An introduction to automata and theory of computation, including finite state automata, deterministic and non-deterministic automata, regular languages, grammars and context free languages, Turing machines, the halting problem, and the language classes P and NP.
Prerequisites: CS 321 and Math 352, 356
Grading (approx): There will two in class exams. The first exam covers material in chapters 1-4, and the second exam covers chapters 5-8. There will also be a comprehensive final exam. The two in-class exams are worth a total of 100 points. The final exam is worth 200. Typically, there will be one homework set assigned per week, each worth 40 points. We will count the best 5 for a total of 200 points. The maximum total points for exams and homeworks is 600. Class participation helps to bias things a bit. Grades are assigned on an informal "curve".
Homework Policy: Seven homeworks will be assigned this quarter; we count the top five. Students may discuss problems together, but must submit their own work. Copying is strictly forbidden. Any significant help, from another student or book, should be acknowledged in writing. Solutions will be rigorously graded on a scale of 0-40 by the grader.
Textbook: An Introduction to Formal Languages and Automata} by P. Linz, DC Heath and Co., 2nd Ed.
Schedule: (approximate, SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
| Week | Class Material | Reading |
| 1 | Introduction, Notation | Chapter 1 |
| 2 | Finite Automata | Chapter 2 |
| 3 | Regular Languages and Grammars | Chapter 3 |
| 4 | Properties of Regular Languages | Chapter 4 |
| 5 | Context-Free Languages | Chapter 5 |
| 6 | Review, Midterm; CFGs and Normal Forms | Chapter 6 |
| 7 | Pushdown Automata | Chapter 7 |
| 8 | Properties of CFLs | Chapter 8 |
| 9 | Turing Machines | Chapter 9 |
| 10 | Computational Complexity | Chapters 12,13 |