This book forms the mathematical and logical foundation of modern computer science and plays a vital role in the design of intelligent and efficient computing systems. In today’s era of AI, compiler construction, cyber security, ML, data science, and advanced software engineering, understanding formal languages, automata, and computational complexity has become increasingly important in day-to-day life. The concepts of automata and computation theory are widely applied in algorithm design, programming language development, pattern recognition, NLP, and system optimization.
This book provides a comprehensive and systematic introduction to the fundamental concepts of computation. It begins with finite automata, regular expressions, and regular grammars, enabling readers to understand the basics of pattern recognition and language processing. It further explores context-free grammars and pushdown automata, which are essential for syntax analysis and compiler design. Advanced topics such as Turing machines, recursive and recursively enumerable languages, undecidability, Chomsky hierarchy, linear bounded automata, and computational complexity are discussed in a simple and structured manner.
By the end of this book, readers will gain a strong theoretical foundation in computation and develop the ability to analyze computational problems using formal methods. The book empowers you to analyze algorithms critically and solve complex computational problems in real-world computer science applications.
What you will learn
● Understand fundamentals of automata, languages, and computational theory.
● Design and analyze finite automata.
● Apply regular expressions and grammars in language processing tasks.
● Develop context-free grammars and pushdown automata systematically.
● Strengthen logical reasoning through solved examples and practical exercises.
● Build foundations for compiler design and advanced computing systems.
Who this book is for
This book is designed for undergraduate and postgraduate computer science students, compiler designers, software developers, and AI professionals. Readers should have a foundational knowledge of basic discrete mathematics, introductory programming logic, elementary data structures, and basic algebra.
Table of Contents
1. Mathematical Preliminaries
2. Finite-state Automata
3. Finite-automata with Output
4. Regular Expressions
5. Context-Free Grammars
6. Pushdown Automata
7. Turing Machine
8. Undecidability
9. Intractable Problems