CMPE 471 Automata Theory
Department: Computer Engineering
Instructor Information
Name: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zeki Bayram
E-mail: zeki.bayram@emu.edu.tr
Office: CMPE 216
Office Tel: 0392 6302840
Assistant Information
Name: Shahin Mehdipour Ataee
E-mail: shahin.mehdipour@emu.edu.tr
Office: CMPE 102
Office Tel: 0392 630 2845/1195
Meeting times and places
Mondays 10:30-12:20, Room CMPE 128
Mondays 16:30-18:20, Room CMPE 128 (Tutorial)
Wednesdays 12:30-14:20, Room CMPE 025
Program Name:
Course Code
CMPE 471
Computer Engineering
Program Code: 25
Credits
4
Required Course
Elective Course
Prerequisite(s):
MATH 163 Discrete Mathematics
Year/Semester
2013-2014 Fall
(click on and check the appropriate box)
Catalog Description
Introduction to formal languages and grammars. Deterministic and non-deterministic finite automata. Regular
languages. Regular expressions. Limitations of languages. Context-free grammars. Context-free languages.
Pushdown automata. Parsing. Chomsky hierarchy. Unrestricted grammars. Recursive and recursively enumerable
sets. Turing machines. Computability. The halting problem, insolvability.
Course Web Page
http://cmpe.emu.edu.tr/bayram/courses/471/Teaching/Fall%202013/all.htm
Textbook(s)
J.E. Hopcroft, R. Motwani, J.D. Ullman, “Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation”, 2nd or
later editions, Addison-Wesley, 2001.
Indicative Basic Reading List
McNaughton R., “Elementary Computability, Formal Languages, and Automata”, Prentice-Hall, 1982
Rayward Smith V.J., “Formal Language Theory”, McGraw-Hill, 1995
Topics Covered and Class Schedule
(4 hours of lectures per week)
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Introduction to principles of computing
Strings and Alphabets, Formal Languages
Deterministic Finite Automata (DFA), Nondeterministic Finite Automata (NFA), The
Equivalence of NFA and DFA
Minimization of FA, Properties of Languages Accepted by FA
Regular Expressions and the Corresponding Languages.
Equivalence of FA and Regular Languages
The Pumping Lemma
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Context-Free Grammars.
Properties of Context Free Languages (CFL), Derivations, parse trees and ambiguity
Useless Symbols, Chomsky and Greibach Normal Forms.
Push-down automata (PDA), acceptance by final state acceptance by empty stack and their
equivalence, Instantaneous Descriptions for PDAs
Equivalence of CFLs and PDAs, parsing, Turing Machines (TM), Instantaneous Descriptions
for TMs
Review
Tutorial Schedule
Weeks 3-4
Mathematical principles, Strings and Alphabets, Formal Languages, Finite Automata
Weeks 5-6
Finite automata, Regular Expressions
The Equivalence of Nondeterministic Finite Automata (NFA) and DFA, Minimizing automata,
Equivalence of FA and Regular Languages, Pumping Lemma
Context Free Languages and Push-down automata, Context Free Grammars, Parse trees, Normal
Weeks 8-9
forms
Weeks 11-12 Turing Machines (design, tracing)
Weeks 6-7
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students are expected to have the following competencies:
(1) Design/Use/Trace finite automata
(2) Convert non-deterministic automata to deterministic automata
(3) Use regular expressions for specifying languages
(4) Convert between regular expressions and finite automata
(5) Minimize finite automata
(6) Design/Use context free grammars
(7) Put a context-free grammar into various normal forms
(8) Design/Use/Trace push down automata
(9) Design/Use/Trace Turing machines
(10) Convert between context free grammars and push-down automata
(11) Formally describe languages generated by regular expressions and grammars, or accepted by finite automata,
PDA and Turing Machines
Method
No
Percentage
Midterm Exam(s)
1
40%
Final Examination
1
45%
Attendance
1
5%
Assignments
2
10%
Computation of the attendance grade: Less than 50%, 0 points. At least 75% attendance, 5 points. Otherwise 5 *
(number of days attended / number of days attendance taken). Attendance will start to be taken once the add-drop
period has ended.
Assessment
Policy on makeups: For eligibility to take a makeup exam, the student should bring a doctor's report within 3
working days of the missed exam.
Policy on cheating and plagiarism: Any student caught cheating at the exams or assignments will automatically fail
the course and may be sent to the disciplinary committee at the discretion of the instructor.
Contribution of Course to ABET Criterion 5
Credit Hours for:
Mathematics & Basic Science : 0
Engineering Sciences and Design : 4
General Education : 0
Relationship of the course to Program Outcomes
The course has been designed to contribute to the following program outcomes:
a) apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering
e) identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems
i) a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning
Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zeki Bayram
Date Prepared: 2 October 2013