Introduction to Computer Theory

by Daniel I.A. Cohen

Book Overview

An easy-to-comprehend text for required undergraduate courses in computer theory, this work thoroughly covers the three fundamental areas of computer theory--formal languages, automata theory, and Turing machines. It is an imaginative and pedagogically strong attempt to remove the unnecessary mathematical complications associated with the study of these subjects. The author substitutes graphic representation for symbolic proofs, allowing students...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471802719
• ISBN13: 9780471802716
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 832 Pages
• Weight: 2.65 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The most readable book on computation theory ever written

I have taught a course in computation theory for computer science majors for almost two decades. Before the first time, I had never had any of the material in a course so I was required to learn the material on my own. This was the book that I used. For about a month, I set aside a block of time each day and went through the material section by section. When I had completed each section, I would work a few of the problems and would not move on until I understood what the answers should be. The coverage is: *) Deterministic and nondeterministic finite automata *) Regular expressions *) Context-free grammars and languages *) Chomsky normal form *) Pushdown automata *) Turing machines *) Post machines *) The relationship between machines and computers When it came time to teach the class for the first time, it all went very smoothly. This remains the most readable book for the self-study of computation theory that I have ever seen. Cohen has written a later, more concise edition and that is what I have been using as the text in my course.

Great introduction to theory of computing

I read it during my undergraduate, it was the course book for the thoery of automata course. More recently when I tried the popular "Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation" by Hopcroft et al. for the purpose of revising the concepts, I realized how great this book is. It is definitely a better book than Hopcroft et al's, with in-depth explanations of all topics, lots of examples and exercises and in a writing style very friendly for the novice readers. Very good work!

Great Book!

This is a great book. I read the first edition many years ago, and it too was great. Everything is explained in order, and explained well - it is very accessable, even to the casual reader interested in the topics presented. It was through this book that I was able to actually write software that demonstrated Kleene's Theorem, (RE=NFA=DFA) converting between Regular Expressions, NFA's and DFA's.Unlike many textbooks, reading this one is actually FUN. By the time I was done, I felt that I understood everything that was presented. That's how good this text is.// CHRIS (Darien, Connecticut)

Introduction to Computer Theory

This is one of the best textbooks I've ever read. It is CLEAR in the explanation of abstract theories and explains everything you'll ever need to know about pushdown automata theory, Turing theory, and more. This book is written in a language that can be understood by everybody and if that's not enough contains extremely helpful diagrams.The only thing that is better than the book is to be in Dr. Cohen's class. Thank you, Dr. Cohen, for the unforgettable experience.

Great companion to Aho and Ullman's book

This book is great. It gives a completely different approach to atomata theory and computability than Aho and Ullman's book. The the latter has demostrations from an algebraic point of view, the former gives constructive demostrations which are usually more understandable to me. This is a great introduction to computer theory and I would recommend it instead of Aho's book as a first encounter with these themes.