The primary objective of the book Languages and Machines is to give a

mathematically sound presentation of the theory of computing at a level

suitable for junior and senior level computer science majors. The topics
covered include the theory of formal languages and automata,
computability, computational complexity, and the deterministic parsing of
context-free languages. To make these topics accessible to the
undergraduate student, no special mathematical prerequisites are assumed.
Rather, the mathematical tools of the theory of computing, naive set
theory, recursive definitions, and proof by mathematical induction, are introduced in the
course of the presentation.
The presentation of formal language theory and automata develops the relationships
between the grammars and abstract machines of the Chomsky hierarchy. Parsing context-
free languages is introduced via standard graph-searching algorithms to make it
accessible to students having taken a data structures course.
Finite-state automata and Turing machines provide the framework for the study of
effective computation. Topics covered include decidability, the Church-Turing thesis, and
the equivalence of Turing computability and mu-recursive functions. The classes P and
NP of solvable decision problems and the theory of NP-completeness are introduced by
analyzing the time complexity of Turing machines.
Chapters on LL and LR grammars are included to permit a presentation of formal
language theory that will provide the foundation for a course in compiler design.

Solutions Manual: I have written a solutions manual with worked out solutions to
approximately one third of the problems in the book. Because some instructors do not
want students to have solutions worked out by others (I am not one of them), Addison-
Wesley choose not to publish the manual but will make these solutions available to
instructors. Of course, the instructors are then free to make them available to whomever
they wish. For information about obtaining the solutions, please contact Addison-Wesley
at aw.cse@awl.com.

Comments and Suggestions: If you have any general comments and suggestions to
improve or expand the presentation or have found errors in the text please feel free to
contact me. I appreciate the help and will attempt to incorporate your suggestions into
any subsequent editions.

Errata: The book is currently in the first printing of the third edition. Technical errors
and other typos that may cause confusion in this printing can be found in ERRATA.