Information Package / Course Catalogue
Formal Languages and Automata Theory
Course Code: MAT438
Course Type: Area Elective
Couse Group: First Cycle (Bachelor's Degree)
Education Language: Turkish
Work Placement: N/A
Theory: 3
Prt.: 0
Credit: 3
Lab: 0
ECTS: 6
Objectives of the Course

The purpose of this course is to explain the concept of abstract machines and automata, and the course aims to help students for understanding the limitations of computers

Course Content

An overview of automata theory, formal languages and Kleene closure, Regular expressions and regular languages, Transition graph, Kleene theorem, Finite automaton with outputs, Meely and Moore machines, Turing theory, Turing machines, Halting problem, decidability of a problem, computability and Church thesis

Name of Lecturer(s)
Assoc. Prof. Korhan GÜNEL
Learning Outcomes
1.Ability to understand the concept of formal languages
2.Ability to understand the differences between formal languages and natural languages
3.Ability to construct finite automata to generate a formal language
4.Ability to understand concept of grammars, and design a grammar to generate a formal language
5.Ability to understand computer limitations using Turing theory
6.Ability to classify formal languages
7.Ability to explain the concept of computability
Recommended or Required Reading
1.Peter Linz, An Introduction to Formal Languages and Automata, 4th Edition, Jones and Bartlett, Boston, 2006
2.Hopcroft, John.E., Ullman, J.D., Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages and Computation, Addison Wesley, 1978
Weekly Detailed Course Contents
Week 1 - Theoretical
An overview of automata theory, formal languages and Kleene closure
Week 2 - Theoretical
Regular expressions and regular languages
Week 3 - Theoretical
Deterministic finite automaton
Week 4 - Theoretical
Transition graph
Week 5 - Theoretical
Kleene theorem
Week 6 - Theoretical
Kleene theorem
Week 7 - Theoretical
Kleene theorem
Week 8 - Theoretical
Nondeterministic finite automaton, Midterm Exam
Week 9 - Theoretical
Finite automaton with outputs, Meely and Moore machines
Week 10 - Theoretical
Stack automaton theory, Post machines
Week 11 - Theoretical
Context free grammars, trees, regular grammars, Chomsky normal form, production rules
Week 12 - Theoretical
Context sensitive grammars, Pumping Lamma
Week 13 - Theoretical
Turing theory, Turing machines
Week 14 - Theoretical
Turing theory, Turing machines
Assessment Methods and Criteria
Type of AssessmentCountPercent
Midterm Examination1%40
Final Examination1%60
Workload Calculation
ActivitiesCountPreparationTimeTotal Work Load (hours)
Lecture - Theory140342
Individual Work140342
Midterm Examination130232
Final Examination132234
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours)150
Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes
PÇ-1
PÇ-2
PÇ-3
PÇ-4
PÇ-5
PÇ-6
PÇ-7
PÇ-8
PÇ-9
PÇ-10
PÇ-11
PÇ-12
PÇ-13
PÇ-14
PÇ-15
PÇ-16
PÇ-17
PÇ-18
OÇ-1
4
4
3
4
OÇ-2
4
3
OÇ-3
4
4
4
3
4
4
4
OÇ-4
4
4
3
4
4
4
OÇ-5
3
4
OÇ-6
3
OÇ-7
4
4
4
4
3
4
4
4
Adnan Menderes University - Information Package / Course Catalogue
2026