Definition

A regular expression is another representation of a regular language, and is

defined over an alphabet (defined as Σ). The simplest regular expressions
are symbols from λ, ∅, and symbols from Σ. Regular expressions can be
built from these simple regular expressions with parenthesis, in addition to
union, Kleene star and concatenation operators. In JFLAP, the concatenation
symbol is implicit whenever two items are next to each other, and it is not
explicitly stated. Thus, if one wishes to concatenate the strings “grass” and
“hopper”, simply input “grasshopper”. The following is how JFLAP
implements other special symbols for regular expressions:

( , ) are used to help define the order of operations

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* is the Kleene star

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+ is the union operator

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! is used to represent the empty string.
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The following are a few examples of regular expressions and the languages
generated using these operators:
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1. a+b+c = {a, 4. ab* = {a, ab, abb, abbb, ...} 7. a+b* = (a, λ, b, bb,
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b, c} 5. (ab)* = (λ, ab, abab, bbb, ...)

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2. abc = {abc} ababab, ...) 8. a+!* = (a, λ)

3. (!+a)bc = 6. (a+b)* = (λ, a, b, aa, ab, ba, 9. (a+!)* = (λ, a, aa,
{bc, abc} bb, aaa, ...) aaa, aaaa, ...)
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Since all regular languages accept finite acceptors, a regular expression must
also be able to accept a finite automaton. There is a feature in JFLAP that
allows the conversion of a regular expression to an NFA, which will be
sh is

explained shortly. For knowledge of many of the general tools, menus, and
Th

windows used to create an automaton, one should first read the tutorial
on finite automata.

https://www.coursehero.com/file/61319302/regular-expression-pdf/

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