Automata
Automata
Automata
Related Terminologies
Alphabet
Definition − An alphabet is any finite set of
symbols.
String
Definition − A string is a finite sequence of
symbols taken from ∑.
Example − ‘cabcad’ is a valid string on the
alphabet set ∑ = {a, b, c, d}
Length of a String
Definition − It is the number of symbols
present in a string. (Denoted by |S|).
Examples −
If S = ‘cabcad’, |S|= 6
If |S|= 0, it is called an empty string (Denoted
by λ or ε)
Kleene Star
Definition − The Kleene star, ∑*, is a unary
operator on a set of symbols or strings, ∑,
that gives the infinite set of all possible
strings of all possible lengths over ∑ including
λ.
Representation − ∑* = ∑0 ∪ ∑1 ∪ ∑2 ∪…….
where ∑p is the set of all possible strings of
length p.
Representation − ∑+ = ∑1 ∪ ∑2 ∪ ∑3 ∪…….
∑+ = ∑* − { λ }
Language
Definition − A language is a subset of ∑* for
some alphabet ∑. It can be finite or infinite.
Example − If the language takes all possible
strings of length 2 over ∑ = {a, b}, then L =
{ ab, aa, ba, bb }