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CS386 - Introduction to Automata Theory - Spring 2005

Instructor:

Valentino Crespi, ET-A318, 3-4596.
vcrespi@calstatela.edu

Office Hours: MW 1:00-2:00pm, T 12:30-2:30pm.

cs386 website: http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/vcrespi/CS/CS386/cs386.html
Prerequisites: MATH255, CS202
Schedule: MW 6:10-7:50PM ET-A210
Abstract: CS386 focuses on regular languages, Context Free Languages (CFLs), Finite State Automata (FSA) and Pushdown Automata (PDA). The main purpose of the course is to help students familiarize with basic formal methods that apply heavily in the theory of languages and in particular in the design of syntax and lexical analyzers.
Topics Overview: This is a general overview. However you can access the archive to see full logs of previous instances of this same course.
  • Mathematical Preliminaries and Proof Techniques: sets, alphabets, strings, languages, proofs by contradiction and structural induction.
  • Grammars and Automata: language generation and language recognition.
  • DFSA and NDFSA. The Subset construction.
  • Regular Languages and Regular Expressions.
  • Minimization of DFSA.
  • Linear Grammars.
  • Pumping Lemma for Regular Languages.
  • Context Free Languages.
  • Parse Trees. Leftmost and rightmost derivations. Ambiguity.
  • PDA and DPDA.
  • Pumping Lemma for Context Free Languages.
Course Book: J. Hopcroft, R. Motwani, J. Ullman. Introduction Automata Theory, Languages and Computation. Addison-Wesley.
Grading: Two Midterm Exams (25%+25%), Final Exam (40%), Homework Assignments (10%)
Score (%) Letter Grade
90-100 A
80-89 B
60-79 C
50-59 D
0-49 F
Date and Time of Final Exam: Monday, June 6, 2005. Time: 7:30-10:00pm.
Policies:
  • Makeup Exams: No.
  • Homework Assignments:
    Homework assignments should be written neatly on standard sized paper (8.5 x 11 inch), possibly in black or blue ink (please do not use red) and submitted at the due date (no electronic submissions accepted). Each page should be numbered. Late submissions will not be accepted.
  • Use of Cell Phones: forbidden.
  • Late arrivals:
    Students arriving 30min after the beginning of class will not be admitted.
  • Academic integrity and honesty:
    Students are allowed and encouraged to discuss reading materials with each other. However, homework assignments must be solved and written individually. If you obtain a solution with help then you should acknowledge your source in the paper and then write independently your own solution.
  • Office:
    Students are warmly invited to visit the instructor (during the announced office hours) for questions and clarifications.
  • E-mail:
    E-mails addressed to vcrespi@calstatela.edu must have, in the subject, the keyword CS386 (e.g. Subject: CS386 ...). All the E-mails will be possibly processed in the evening and so will be answered with a minimum delay. Be careful, the keyword in the subject is important for automatic filtering. Wrong subjects may result in the accidental loss of the message.