Lesson 01
Lesson 01
Lesson 01
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Introduction to languages
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Alphabets
Definition:
A finite non-empty set of symbols (letters), is
called an alphabet. It is denoted by Σ ( Greek
letter sigma).
Example:
Σ={a,b}
Σ={0,1} //important as this is the language
//which the computer understands.
Σ={i,j,k}
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NOTE:
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Strings
Definition:
Concatenation of finite symbols from the
alphabet is called a string.
Example:
If Σ= {a,b} then
a, abab, aaabb, ababababababababab
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NOTE:
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Words
Definition:
Words are strings belonging to some
language.
Example:
If Σ= {x} then a language L can be
defined as
L={xn : n=1,2,3,…..} or L={x,xx,xxx,….}
Here x,xx,… are the words of L
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NOTE:
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Valid/In-valid alphabets
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This string can be tokenized in two different
ways
(Ba), (bab), (B)
(B), (abab), (B)
Which shows that the second group cannot
be identified as a string, defined over
Σ = {a, b}.
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As when this string is scanned by the
compiler (Lexical Analyzer), first symbol B is
identified as a letter belonging to Σ, while for
the second letter the lexical analyzer would
not be able to identify, so while defining an
alphabet it should be kept in mind that
ambiguity should not be created.
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Remarks:
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Conclusion
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Length of Strings
Definition:
The length of string s, denoted by |s|, is the
number of letters in the string.
Example:
Σ={a,b}
s=ababa
|s|=5
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Example:
Σ= {B, aB, bab, d}
s=BaBbabBd
Tokenizing=(B), (aB), (bab), (d)
|s|=4
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Reverse of a String
Definition:
The reverse of a string s denoted by Rev(s)
or sr, is obtained by writing the letters of s
in reverse order.
Example:
If s=abc is a string defined over Σ={a,b,c}
then Rev(s) or sr = cba
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Example:
Σ= {B, aB, bab, d}
s=BaBbabBd
Rev(s)=dBbabaBB
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Defining Languages
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Example:
The language L of strings of odd length,
defined over Σ={a}, can be written as
L={a, aaa, aaaaa,…..}
Example:
The language L of strings that does not start
with a, defined over Σ={a,b,c}, can be written
as
L={b, c, ba, bb, bc, ca, cb, cc, …}
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Example:
The language L of strings of length 2,
defined over Σ={0,1,2}, can be written as
L={00, 01, 02,10, 11,12,20,21,22}
Example:
The language L of strings ending in 0,
defined over Σ ={0,1}, can be written as
L={0,00,10,000,010,100,110,…}
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Example: The language EQUAL, of strings with
number of a’s equal to number of b’s, defined
over Σ={a,b}, can be written as
{Λ ,ab,aabb,abab,baba,abba,…}
Example: The language EVEN-EVEN, of strings
with even number of a’s and even number of
b’s, defined over Σ={a,b}, can be written as
{Λ, aa, bb, aaaa,aabb,abab, abba, baab, baba,
bbaa, bbbb,…}
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Example: The language INTEGER, of strings
defined over Σ={-,0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}, can be
written as
INTEGER = {…,-2,-1,0,1,2,…}
Example: The language EVEN, of stings
defined over Σ={-,0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}, can
be written as
EVEN = { …,-4,-2,0,2,4,…}
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Example: The language {anbn }, of strings
defined over Σ={a,b}, as
{an bn : n=1,2,3,…}, can be written as
{ab, aabb, aaabbb,aaaabbbb,…}
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Example: The language factorial, of strings
defined over Σ={1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9} i.e.
{1,2,6,24,120,…}
Example: The language FACTORIAL, of
strings defined over Σ={a}, as
{an! : n=1,2,3,…}, can be written as
{a,aa,aaaaaa,…}. It is to be noted that the
language FACTORIAL can be defined over
any single letter alphabet.
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Example: The language PRIME, of strings
defined over Σ={a}, as
{ap : p is prime}, can be written as
{aa,aaa,aaaaa,aaaaaaa,aaaaaaaaaaa…}
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An Important language
PALINDROME:
The language consisting of Λ and the strings
s defined over Σ such that Rev(s)=s.
It is to be denoted that the words of
PALINDROME are called palindromes.
Example:For Σ={a,b},
PALINDROME={Λ , a, b, aa, bb, aaa, aba,
bab, bbb, ...}
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