CS 3311
Formal Models of Computation

Instructor

Dr. Nilufer Onder
Office: 309 Rekhi CS Hall (I will be holding office hours over Zoom.)
Office Hours: I hold office hours over Zoom.
  To schedule a meeting, please send me an email with your available times.
  Make sure to add "CS3311" to the subject line.

You are welcome to use the times I or our GTAs are available. Many times a short meeting is very helpful to clarify the topics being discussed.

Grading and Instructional Assistance

• Soheil Sepahyar
• Shalaka Gaidhani

Textbook

 

Languages and Machines: An Introduction to the Theory of Computer Science, Third Edition by Thomas A. Sudkamp Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 2006 ( Textbook web site )


I will follow the textbook. However, the book is out of print so I will not give assignments that require having the textbook. I will cover most of Chapters 1 through 5. From the Pushdown Automata and Turing Machine chapters (Chapters 7 and 8) I will cover only the beginning sections.

I use this book because it has a good pedagogical design in its coverage of computer languages and automata theory. I do my best to expand the topics gradually and establish the relevance of each step to the prior steps.

Many students ask me if they should buy the book. On one hand, mathematical material can be be hard to follow and it is good to have a textbook to read. On the other hand, textbooks are expensive. I will leave the decision to you and will make a reserve copy available in the library.

I will also be handing out supplementary material when needed.

Grading

Assignments (Group 1)	20%
Midterm Exam 1a	10%
Midterm Exam 1b	10%
Midterm Exam 2	25%
Midterm Exam 3	25%
Assignments (Group 2)	10%

The exams are not cumulative. There is no final exam. Exam 1 will be given in two parts to have a gentle start to the semester while the students are bringing the knowledge from prerequisite classes to the foreground.

You will get an assignment every Monday and it will be due the following Saturday at 9:00pm. Note that the deadline is not midnight. I recommend starting the assignments as soon as possible. Starting the assignment close to the deadline is risky because it does not leave any time to revisit the topics and ask questions. Many times, all that is needed by a student is a simple clarification and not having the time to ask a question results in a lower grade.

There are two groups of assignments. The first group includes questions that prepare you for the exams. There will be a total of 11 assignments in Group 1. I will delete the assignment with the lowest grade. Their total weight is 20% The assignments in Group 2 will be due after the last exam. Their total weight is 10%. No assignments will be dropped from Group 2. These policies are shown in Canvas.

The assignments are the heart of this course and have contributed to the success of many students. They keep you in sync with the course material, therefore it is important that you reserve time each week to study the material and do the assignments. I strongly recommend that you do not skip assignments. Their individual point share is low but they give you the experience in dealing with a variety of problems.

There might be times where you are not able to complete the assignment fully by the due date. This is understandable, and dropping the assignment with the lowest score prevents a single low grade from affecting your total grade. Always turn in what you have by the due date. If you were not able to turn in answers to all the questions, make sure to complete the assignment without looking at the answers as soon as possible. This will contribute greatly to your learning.

The final grade will be calculated using a sliding scale using the percentages above. The lowest grade you will get is as follows:

     93-100    A
     88-92     AB
     82-87     B
     76-81     BC
     70-75     C
     65-69     CD
     50-64     D
     00-49     F

Course topics

The following are the topics that will be covered this semester:

Topic	Sections from the textbook
Mathematical preliminaries	1.1, 1.2, 1.6
Regular Languages	2.1 - 2.4
Finite Automata	5.1 - 5.7, 6.1
Context-Free Grammars	3.1 - 3.6
Normal Forms for Context-Free Grammars	4.1 - 4.7
Pushdown Automata	7.1
Turing Machines	8.1 - 8.2
Formal specification of floating point numbers and accuracy	Not in the textbook, slides are provided

Learning Objectives:

• Write languages as recursive definitions, regular expressions, DFAs, NFAs, CFGs, PDAs, and TMs.
• Convert among equivalently powerful notations for a language among DFAs, NFAs, and regular expressions.
• Prove the correctness of or properties of languages.
• Show the execution trace of a parsing algorithm (CYK algorithm).
• Determine a language's place in the Chomsky hierarchy.
• Gain familiarity with the Church-Turing thesis and its significance.

Required Background

I assume that you are familiar with the basic concepts such as sets, functions, relations, and formal proofs. I will provide extra lectures to review those topics thoroughly at the beginning of the semester.

Class recordings:

All the face-to-face and remote lectures will be recorded. My students consistently comment that the recordings are a great convenience when they would like to review material or occasionally miss a class. The link to each day's recording is automatically posted on Canvas.

It is very important to note that the recordings are not meant to replace class attendance. This class was not designed as an asynchronous online course. Over the many years I have taught classes, I have observed that skipping classes is detrimental to student success. You need to attend classes because being there gives you a multidimensional experience, an opportunity to ask questions and to see the big picture. It also gives me an opportunity to interact with you, assess your background, establish relevance to other topics of interest to you, and adjust the pace of the course. Another great advantage is that you get to know others in the class, establish frienships, and get answers to quick questions. You are expected to attend class regularly. Please see below for further information.

Class attendance:

You are expected to attend all classes. Please send me an e-mail message if you know that you are going to miss a class or if you have missed a class due to unforeseen circumstances. Please put "CS3311" in the subject line. I will give you a quick update on what has been covered and what is due.

Assignments---information and policy:

All the assigments should be uploaded to Canvas early in the evening on the due date (mostly Saturday at 9:00pm). Notice that it is 9:00pm, not midnight. I try not to set late evening deadlines.
Late submissions are not accepted because I will discuss the solutions at the beginning of class.

The assignments should be typed using a word processor of your choice. The diagrams should be drawn using a drawing software of your choide. Pictures or scans of handwritten answers are not acceptable.

If you wish to write programs to test any of the ideas, you are welcome to do so, but there is no such requirement.

While discussion with others is permitted and encouraged, the final work should be done individually. You are not allowed to work in groups for any of the assignments. If someone asks for help on a question, you are encouraged to discuss the general concepts but you are not allowed to show them your work or solutions.

The answers, comments, and programs (if any) must be the original work of the author.

You are allowed to build on material supplied in the class. If you use any other source, you should specify it on your assignment. You may use it by clearly acknowledging the source and its contribution to your work. For instance, "I found an answer to a similar question at http://www.xxx.yyy and used it to write my answer." Copying, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, and the like are not acceptable and will be reported to the Dean of Students' office. Please see the "Academic Integrity" paragraph below.

Exams---information and policy:

The midterm exams will be held on Thursdays between 6:00pm-7:30pm. We will have class before and after the exam days. I will return these exam day classes to you at the end of the semester. The exam dates are the following:


• Exam 1, Part 1 (Exam 1a): Thursday, January 26, 2023, 6:00pm-7:30pm (Week 3)
  
  
• Exam 1, Part 2 (Exam 1b): Thursday, February 16, 2023, 6:00pm-7:30pm (Week 6)
  
  
• Exam 2: Thursday, March 2, 2023, 6:00pm-7:30pm (Week 8)
  
  
• Exam 3: Thursday, April 6, 2023, 6:00pm-7:30pm (Week 12)
  
  
• There will not be a final exam.

These will be 1.5-hour, proctored, closed books/notes/workstations/other humans, open minds exams.

If you have conflicts with the exams on Thursdays or want to use your accommondations, please send me a message with the course and exam number in the subject line, e.g., "CS3311 exam 1a conflict".

The exams are not cumulative. However, the topics build on each other. Even though there will not be direct questions related to prior topics, you are expected to remember the main concepts throughout the semester.

There will be no make-up exams. In the case of very unusual circumstances (e.g., death in the family, severe illness with a doctor's written note), please come to see me and we can work something out.

It is your responsibility to return legible answers. Unfortunately, I do not have the resources to decipher bad handwriting and might have to assume that no answer was given.

Collaboration, dishonesty, and the like during the exams are not acceptable and will be turned in to the Dean of Students' office. Please see the "Academic Integrity" paragraph below.

Academic Integrity:

If copying, plagiarism, or unauthorized collaboration is suspected, the case will be turned to the Dean of Students' office with supporting evidence. After this, the decision is made by the Dean. The procedure is explained in the Office of Academic and Community Conduct web pages (this is required reading!). More tips and information can be found at the Dean of Students' page and the MTU Senate policies. Note that we have a departmental policy of reporting the suspected cases to the Department Chair's office.

University policies:

• Affirmative Action ( MTU affirmative action site )
  
  
• Disability Services ( MTU affirmative action site ) ( Student disability services )
  
  If you have a disability that could affect your performance in this class or that requires an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, please see me as soon as possible so that we can make appropriate arrangements. The Affirmative Action Office has asked that you be made aware of the following:
  Michigan Tech complies with all federal and state laws and regulations regarding discrimination, including the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. If you have a disability and need a reasonable accommodation for equal access to education or services at Michigan Tech, please call the Dean of Students Office, at 487-2212. For other concerns about discrimination, you may contact your advisor, department head or the Affirmative Action Office, at 487-3310.
  
  
• Equal Opportunity Statement ( Board of Control Policy )