Course detail

Theoretical Computer Science (in English)

FIT-TINeAcad. year: 2025/2026

An overview of the applications of the formal language theory in modern computer science and engineering (compilers, system modelling and analysis, linguistics, etc.), the modelling and decision power of formalisms, regular languages and their properties, minimalization of finite-state automata, context-free languages and their properties, Turing machines, properties of recursively enumerable and recursive languages, computable functions, undecidability, undecidable problems of the formal language theory.

Language of instruction

English

Number of ECTS credits

5

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Guarantor

doc. RNDr. Milan Češka, Ph.D.

Department

Department of Intelligent Systems (UITS)

Offered to foreign students

Of all faculties

Entry knowledge

Basic knowledge of discrete mathematics concepts including graph theory and formal languages concepts, and basic concepts of algorithmic complexity.

Rules for evaluation and completion of the course

  • Mid-term exam evaluation - 20 points.
  • Evaluation of homeworks - 20 points. 
  • Final exam - 60 points. For receiving the credit and thus for entering the exam, students have to obtain at least 15 points gained out of the first three assignments and the mid-term exam.

A written mid-term exam, a regular evaluation of homeworks.

Aims

To acquaint students with more advanced parts of the formal language theory, with basics of the theory of computability, and with basic terms of the complexity theory.
The students are acquainted with basic as well as more advanced terms, approaches, and results of the theory of automata and formal languages and with basics of the theory of computability and complexity allowing them to better understand the nature of the various ways of describing and implementing computer-aided systems. The students are capable of applying the acquainted knowledge when solving complex theoretical as well as practical problems in the areas of system modelling, programming, formal specification and verification, and artificial intelligence.

The students acquire basic capabilities for theoretical research activities.

Study aids

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

Brookshear, J.G. : Theory of Computation: Formal Languages, Automata, and Complexity, The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Inc, Redwood City, California, 1989. ISBN 0-805-30143-7  (EN)
Hopcroft, J.E., Motwani, R., Ullman, J.D.: Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation, Addison Wesley, 2nd ed., 2000. ISBN 0-201-44124-1 (EN)
Kozen, D.C.: Automata and Computability, Springer-Verlag, New Yourk, Inc, 1997. ISBN 0-387-94907-0. (EN)
Martin, J.C.: Introduction to Languages and the Theory of Computation, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 3rd ed., 2002. ISBN 0-072-32200-4. (EN)

Recommended reading

Aho, A.V., Ullmann, J.D.: The Theory of Parsing,Translation and Compiling, Prentice-Hall, 1972. ISBN 0-139-14564-8
Brookshear, J.G. : Theory of Computation: Formal Languages, Automata, and Complexity, The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Inc, Redwood City, California, 1989. ISBN 0-805-30143-7
Češka, M. a kol.: Vyčíslitelnost a složitost, Nakl. VUT Brno, 1993. ISBN 80-214-0441-8 (CS)
Kozen, D.C.: Automata and Computability, Springer-Verlag, New York, Inc, 1997. ISBN 0-387-94907-0 (EN)
Martin, J.C.: Introduction to Languages and the Theory of Computation, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 3rd ed., 2002. ISBN 0-072-32200-4 (EN)
Meduna, A.: Formal Languages and Computation. New York, Taylor & Francis, 2014. (EN)

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme IT-MGR-1H Master's

    specialization MGH , 0 year of study, summer semester, recommended course

  • Programme MIT-EN Master's 1 year of study, summer semester, compulsory

Type of course unit

 

Lecture

39 hod., optionally

Teacher / Lecturer

doc. RNDr. Milan Češka, Ph.D.

Syllabus

  1. An overview of the applications of the formal language theory, the modelling and decision power of formalisms, operations over languages.
  2. Regular languages and their properties, Kleene's theorem, Nerod's theorem, Pumping lemma.
  3. Minimization of finite-state automata, the relation of indistinguishability of automata states, construction of a reduced finite-state automaton.
  4. Closure properties of regular languages, regular languages as a Boolean algebra, decidable problems of regular languages.
  5. Context-free languages and their properties, normal forms of context-free grammars, unambiguous and deterministic context-free languages, Pumping lemma for context-free languages.
  6. Closure properties of context-free languages, closedness wrt. substitution and its consequences, decidable problems of context-free languages.
  7. Turing machines (TMs), the language accepted by a TM, recursively enumerable and recursive languages and problems, TMs and functions, methods of  constructing TMs.
  8. Modifications of TMs, TMs with a tape infinite on both sides, with more tapes, nondeterministic TMs, automata with two push-down stacks, automata with counters.
  9. TMs and type-0 languages, diagonalisation, properties of recursively enumerable and recursive languages, linearly bounded automata and type-1 languages.
  10. Computable functions, initial functions, primitive recursive functions, mu-recursive functions, the relation of TMs and computable functions.
  11. The Church-Turing thesis, universal TMs, undecidability, the halting problem, reductions, the Post's correspondence problem.
  12. Undecidable problems of the formal language theory.
  13. An introduction to the computational complexity, Turing complexity, the P and NP classes and beyond.

Project

13 hod., compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

doc. RNDr. Milan Češka, Ph.D.

Syllabus

  • A homework on regular languages and finite-state automata.
  • A homework on context-free languages.
  • A homework on Turing machines.
  • A homework on computable functions.

E-learning texts

HW1
hw1-2021.pdf 0.07 MB
hw1-2021.pdf 0.07 MB
Ex3
TINe-set_2.pdf 0.08 MB
TINe-set_3.pdf 0.07 MB
Ex2
TINe-set_2.pdf 0.08 MB
TINe-set_2.pdf 0.08 MB
Ex4
TINe-set_4.pdf 0.07 MB
HW2
hw2.pdf 0.07 MB
Ex5
TINe-set_5.pdf 0.07 MB