Formal Language and Automata Theory

Formal Language and Automata Theory: Key Concepts

Alphabet

Question: What is an alphabet?

Answer: An alphabet is a finite set of symbols used as the basic building blocks for constructing strings in formal language theory. It represents the fundamental elements from which strings are formed. For example, the English alphabet consists of 26 letters: {a, b, c, …, z}.

Strings

Question: Define strings in the context of formal language theory.

Answer: In formal language theory, a string is a finite sequence

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Finite Automata, Regular Expressions, and Lexical Analysis

Finite Automata and Regular Expressions

A finite state machine (FSM) or finite state automaton is a mathematical model of a system. It takes a string consisting of symbols from an alphabet and determines if the string belongs to the language that the automaton recognizes.

Formally, a finite state machine can be described as a quintuple (S, Σ, T, s, A), where:

  • S: is a set of states
  • Σ: is an alphabet
  • T: is the transition function
  • s: is the initial state
  • A: is the set of final or accepting states

Forms of

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