Automata Theory, Languages and Computation

by John E. Hopcroft And Jeffrey D Ullman, Jeffrey D. Ullman, Rajeev Motwani

The product which includes two books which allows students to learn important concepts in an easy-to-understand, question-and-answer format. This portable learning tool has been designed as a one-stop reference for students to understand and master the subjects by themselves.

930 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Misrab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good review/overview of finite automata (e.g. compiler parsers) and regular languages, the pumping lemma(s), context free grammars (e.g. programming languages), parse trees and derivations, stack machines, Turing machines (e.g. von Neumann computers), P vs NP and other complexity classes like their space analogs. Good practice in converting between representations where useful, and thinking of complexity of these operations.

A bit pedantic at times, and could use more applied context. Might benefit from different media e.g. videos. But overall a great overview!

The biggest kernel of value here imo is a flavour of thinking, notably spelling out procedures very clearly, converting between representations and thinking about what can or cannot be computed by a certain setup.