MACHAKOS UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTING & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Course Program:
BSC (computer science, mathematics & computer
science)

Course Unit:
SCO211: Automata Theory/Theory of
Computation

Course Unit Pre-requisite:

SCO 102: Introduction to Programming

Semester & Academic Year

Second Year First Semester two 2023

Contact Hours & Credit Hours

42 Hours; 3 Hours Theory, 2 Hours Lab Work

Lecturer:
Dr. Philip R. Muchiri

Copyright © Machakos University, 2023

All Rights Reserved

MONTH, YEAR
Jan, 2023
LECTURES’ PROFILE

Profile Name: Dr. Philip R Muchiri

Education: PhD, Computer Science
Specialization: Information Systems & IT Innovations
Department: Computing & Information Systems
Office:
Email: Philip.muchiri@mksu.ac.ke
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Phone Number: +254 723917034
 Course Purpose
The three major foundations of computer science, the mathematical description of computational
networks, the limitations of mechanical computation, and the formal specification of languages are highly
interrelated disciplines, and all require a great deal of mathematical maturity to appreciate. A computer
science undergraduate is often expected to deal with all these concepts, and so, this course attempts to
make it possible by developing the standard mathematical models of computation devices, as well as
investigating the cognitive and generative capabilities of such machines.

Expected Learning Outcomes of the Course

On completion of the course, the student should be able to:

1) give an account of important concepts and definitions for automata and formal languages;
2) exemplify and interpret important concepts in specific cases;
3) formulate important results and theorems covered by the course;
4) describe the main features of the proofs of important theorems;
5) express problems from relevant areas of applications in a mathematical form suitable for
further analysis;
6) use the theory, methods and techniques of the course to solve computational problems;
Mode of delivery

Lectures, blended learning, e-learning, readings, demonstrations, experiments and practical projects

Instructional Materials and Equipment

Laptops, Desktops, Projectors, LMS, Text books, Smartphones

Course Assessment
CAT1 – Theory (20%); CAT2 – Practical (20%); End of Semester Examinations (60%).
Total 100%

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Course Schedule/ Content
Topic Subtopic Remarks
1. Introduction to Introduction to Finite Automata, Structural Lecture,
Automata Representations, Automata and Complexity. Reading,
Proving Equivalences about Sets, The
Contrapositive, Proof by Contradiction, Assignment
Inductive Proofs: General Concepts of
Automata Theory: Alphabets Strings,
Languages, And Applications of Automata
Theory.
2. Finite Automata: The Ground Rules, The Protocol, Lecture,
Deterministic Finite Automata: Definitionof
Reading,
a Deterministic Finite Automata, How a DFA
Processes Strings, Simpler Notations for Assignment
DFA’s, Extending the Transition Function to
Strings, The Language of a DFA
3. Nondeterministic An Informal View. The Extended Transition Lecture,
Finite Automata: Function, The Languages of an NFA,
Reading,
Equivalence of Deterministic and
Nondeterministic Finite Automata. Assignment
Finite Automata With Epsilon-Transitions:
Uses of -Transitions, The Formal Notation
for an-NFA, Epsilon-Closures, Extended
Transitions and Languages for -NFA’s,
Eliminating - Transitions.

4. Regular Expressions Regular Expressions: The Operators of Lecture,

and Languages: regular Expressions, Building Regular
Reading,
Expressions, Precedence of Regular-
Expression Operators, Precedence of Assignment
Regular-Expression Operators

5. Finite Automata and From DFA’s to Regular Expressions, Lecture,

Regular Expressions: ConvertingDFA’s to Regular Expressions,
Converting DFA’s to Regular Expressions by Reading,
Eliminating States, Converting Regular Assignment
Expressions to Automata. Algebraic Laws
for Regular Expressions
6. Properties of Regular The Pumping Lemma for Regular Lecture,
Languages: Languages, Applicationsof the Pumping
Reading,
Lemma Closure Properties of Regular

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 Languages, Decision Properties of Regular Assignment
Languages, Equivalence and Minimization
of Automata,

7. Continuous Assessment Test ONE

8. Context-Free Definition of Context-Free Grammars, Lecture,
Grammars and Derivations Using a Grammars Leftmost and
Reading,
Languages Rightmost Derivations, The Languages of a
Grammar, Assignment

9. Parse Trees Constructing Parse Trees, The Yield of a Lecture,

Parse Tree, Inference Derivations, and Parse
Reading,
Trees, From Inferences to Trees, From Trees
to Derivations, From Derivation to Recursive Assignment
Inferences,
10. Applications of Parsers, Ambiguity in Grammars and Lecture,
Context-Free Languages: Ambiguous Grammars,
Reading,
Grammars: Removing Ambiguity From Grammars,
Leftmost Derivations as a Way to Express Assignment
Ambiguity, Inherent Ambiguity
11. Pushdown Automata: Formal Definition of Pushdown Automata, Lecture,
Languages of PDA: A Graphical Notation for PDA’s, Reading,
Instantaneous Descriptions of a PDA,
Assignment
Acceptance by Final State, Acceptance by
Empty Stack
12. Deterministic Definition of a Deterministic PDA, Lecture,
Pushdown Automata: Regular Languagesand Deterministic
Reading,
PDA’s, DPDA’s and Context-Free
Languages, DPDA’s and Ambiguous Assignment
Grammars
13. Properties of Context- Normal Forms for Context-Free Grammars, Lecture,
Free Languages: The Pumping Lemma for Context-Free
Reading,
Languages, Closure Properties of Context-
Free Languages, Decision Properties of Assignment
CFL’s
14. Introduction to Turing The Turing Machine: The Instantaneous Lecture,
Machines: Descriptions for Turing Machines, Transition
Reading,
Diagrams for Turing Machines, The
Language of a Turing Machine, Turing Assignment
Machines and Halting Programming
Techniques for Turing Machines

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Reference books

i. John C. Martin. Introduction to Languages and the Theory of Computation. Third Edition. 2003.
McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 0-07-115468-X (International Students Edition).
ii. John E. Hopcroft. Jeffery D. Ullman. Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and
Computation. 1979. Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0-201-02988
iii. T.A. Sudkamp: Languages and Machines (Addison-Wesley, 2nd Edition, 1997)
iv. Harry R. Lewis, Christos H. Papadimitriou: Elements of The Theory of Computation, Second
Edition, 1998.
v. Daniel I. A. Cohen. Introduction to Computer Theory. Second Edition. 1997. John Wiley & Sons.
ISBN: 0-471-13772-3.
vi. Michael Sipser. Introduction to the Theory of Computation. 1997. PWS Publishing Company.
vii. Introduction to Automata Theory Languages, and Computation, by J.E.Hopcroft, R.Motwani &
J.D.Ullman (3rd Edition) – Pearson Education
viii. Theory of Computer Science (Automata Language & Computations), by K.L.Mishra & N.
Chandrashekhar, PHI
Reference Journals

i. Journal of Automata, Languages, and Combinatorics: JALC https://www.jalc.de

ii. Splicing System in Automata Theory. Elsevier Journals. https://www.elsevier.com/about/open-
science/open-access/open-access-journals
iii. Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation https://dl.acm.org/
iv. The Theory of Automata. Science direct. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/

Course Policy

1. Class Attendance
Students are expected to attend all class sessions as indicated on the semester teaching
timetable. A class attendance register will be used to tract the student’s attendance. Note
that if you don‘t attend 2/3 of the lectures, you will not be allowed to sit for end of semester
examination

2. Late Work Policy

Be sure to pay close attention to deadlines. There will be no makeup assignments or CATs,
or late work accepted without a serious and compelling reason and lecturer/Chairman of

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 Department approval.
3. Complete Assignments
Assignments must be submitted by the given deadline or special permission must be
requested from Lecturer before the due date. Extensions will not be given beyond the next
assignment except under extreme circumstances.

Important Note: Any form of academic dishonesty, including cheating and plagiarism, will be
reported to the University Student Disciplinary Committee.

Lecturer signature: ……………………………………. Date: ……………………………

C.o.D Signature: ………………………………………. Date: ……………………………..

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