K-INFO
HU
EN
Login

Languages and Automata 

Nyelvek és automaták
A tantárgyleírás hatályossága
Hatályosság kezdete:
2026. March 21.
Hatályosság vége:
Subject name (Hungarian, English)
Nyelvek és automaták
Languages and Automata 
Subject code BMEVISZMA12
Subject type
Training Level
Course types and hours (weekly/semester)
Course type lecture tutorial laboratory
hours (weekly) 3 0 0
type (linked/independent)
Assessment type félévközi érdemjegy
Credits 5
Subject coordinator
DR. Friedl Katalin
position: egyetemi docens
Responsible department
Számítástudományi és Információelméleti Tanszék
Faculty Villamosmérnöki és Informatikai Kar
Subject website cs.bme.hu/la
Primary curriculum type
Direct prerequisites – Strong prerequisite none
Direct prerequisites – Weak prerequisite none
Direct prerequisites – Parallel prerequisite none
Direct prerequisites – Milestone prerequisite none
Direct prerequisites – Exclusion none

Objectives

Programme
1. Concepts of alphabet, word and language. Deterministic finite automaton. Class of regular languages and their closure properties to 
union, intersection, difference, complement.

2. Incomplete, nondeterministic and epsilon-transiton finite automata, their equivalence. 
The class of regular languages is closed to concatenation and transitive closure.

3. Equivalence relation on words and states of a finite automaton, their relation. Minimal automata.

4. Regular expressions, their equivalence with finite automata. Proof of non-regularity, the pumping lemma.

5. Formal grammars, the Chomsky hierarchy. Regular grammars. 
Decision questions about regular languages (empty, finite, does it contain the given word, are two languages equal).

6. Context-free grammars and languages. Simplification of CF grammars: Epsilon rules, chain rules, elimination of redundant symbols.

7. Closure properties of context-free languages. Non context-free languages, the pumping lemma.

8. Non-deterministic and deterministic stack automata. CF grammar and stack automata. Deterministic CF languages.

9. Deciding inclusion: Cocke-Younger-Kasami algorithm and its efficiency. General 
analysts.

10. Ambiguity of CF grammars and languages, examples, relation to determinism. 

11. Deterministic and non-deterministic Turing machines. Determinization of non-deterministic Turing machines. 

12. Definition of R and RE classes, examples. The Church-Turing thesis. 

13. Equivalence of single and multitape Turing machines. Famous languages: diagonal, universal, halting language. 

14. Closure properties of R and RE. Relationship between R, RE, coRE, further examples. 

15. Rice's theorem and its applications. Post correspondence problem.

16. Algorithmic quiestions in CF grammars: decidable and undecidable problems.

17. Generative languages and Turing machines, context-sensitive  languages and the relation to linearly constrained Turing machines.

18. Space- and time-bounded Turing machines. Space-time theorem. TIME, SPACE, NTIME NSPACE classes. Their closure properties, and relationship. 

19. Relation of P, NP, PSPACE, EXPTIME classes.  Witness theorem for the class NP. Karp reduction, Cook-Levin theorem 
on NP-completeness of SAT.  Other NP-complete languages

20. Relation of Turing machines to the RAM model, Relation between time bounds.

21. Repetition, Reserve.
The course covers the most important types of automaton and the basics of formal grammar. It introduces the relationships between automata and grammars and the limits of their applicability. Students will be introduced to the main theoretical foundations necessary for the construction of translation programs. In the context of Turing machines, they will also learn about problems that are undecidable and indecidable in algorithms.  (1) Familiarisation with the automata and grammars discussed, illustrated by examples.  (2) Understanding the relationships between different automata and grammars.  (3) Applying the techniques learned.  (4) The ability to select and apply the appropriate tool for a given problem.

Learning outcomes

Ez a tantárgy a KKK rendeletben meghatározott, következő kompetenciák fejlesztését szolgálja:

Knowledge

No learning outcomes recorded.

Skills

No learning outcomes recorded.

Attitudes

No learning outcomes recorded.

Autonomy and responsibility

No learning outcomes recorded.

Oktatási módszertan

Lecture, but some of the details (proofs) must be learnt independently from the notes provided.   Weekly practice exercises (not to be handed in) to help learning and check understanding.

Tanulástámogató anyagok

Online források
Michael Sipser: Introduction to the theory of computation, Thomson Course Techn., 2006.

Recommended preliminary knowledge for completing the subject

Knowledge type competencies
(azon előzetes ismeretek összessége, amelyek megléte nem kötelező, de a tantárgy eredményes teljesítését nagyban elősegíti)
Basic knowledge of graphs, complexity classes P and NP
Skill type competencies
(azon előzetes képességek és készségek összessége, amelyek megléte nem kötelező, de a tantárgy eredményes teljesítését nagyban elősegíti)
nincs
Recommended (non-compulsory) preliminary competencies
(azon ajánlott (nem kötelező) előzetesen megszerzendő kompetenciák összessége, amelyek jelentősen hozzájárulnak a tantárgy eredményes teljesítéséhez)
Basic knowledge of graphs, complexity classes P and NP
General rules
Requirements: Two tests during the semester. For a passing grade one has to achieve at least 40% on each.  Additional possibilities: There is a retake for both tests.
Assessment methods
In-term assessments

No detailed assessments provided.

Weight of in-term assessments

No weights provided.

Exam-period assessments

No detailed assessments provided.

Weight of exam elements

No weights provided.

Grade calculation

No grade thresholds provided.

Attendance requirements

No attendance requirements provided.

Rules for retake and resubmission

Not provided.

Short description

Not provided.

Detailed description

Not provided.

Recommended courses

Not provided.

Workload to complete the subject

No workload breakdown provided.

Validity of subject requirements
Requirements valid from:
Requirements valid until:
Curriculum placement

No curriculum placements recorded for this subject version.