Name: Introduction to automata theory, languages, and computation
ISBN: 9780321455369

Introduction to automata theory, languages, and computation

"This classic book on formal languages, automata theory, and computational complexity has been updated to present theoretical concepts in a concise and straightforward manner with increased coverage of practical applications. This third edition offers students a less formal writing style while providing the most accessible coverage of automata theory available, solid treatment on constructing proofs, many figures and diagrams to help convey ideas, and sidebars to highlight related material. A new feature of this edition is Gradiance, a Web-based homework and assessment tool. Each chapter offers an abundance of exercises, including selected Gradiance problems, for a true hands-on learning experience for students."--BOOK JACKET.

What Hacker News says

tiuMar 2025

+1.

To elaborate on this, the original Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation, by John Hoffcroft and Jefferey Ullman (The one with the black cover is the 1979 edition). My instructor, even in 2024, made us use that one instead of the newer one.

The other text if i recall right is Tanenbaum's Computer Networks book, where there is a significant portion of bloat that does not really fit there although my source for this is a review for the book.

K&R 2nd Edition was rushed but I personally wouldn't claim the older edition was 'better'.

thread

maydJul 2024

John E. Hopcroft, Jeffrey D. Ullman, Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation.

thread

nabla9Jul 2023

That's because the second author is Jeffrey Ullman (Turing Award, Neumann medal)

Ullman is of the authors of several legendary computer science books Dragon Book (Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools) the Cinderella Book (Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation), Green Dragon Book (Principles of Compiler Design)

If you want to learn deep stuff with clarity, those old books are still the way to go.

thread

indogoonerDec 2022

J Hopcroft, JD Ullman, R Motwani, Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages and Computation

I have heard M Sipser's book is also good but have not gone through it myself.

thread

cafardApr 2022

There is also The Cinderella Book by Hopcroft and Ullman, Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation.

thread

wslhFeb 2022

I credit teachers more than books but a partnership between teachers and books makes education great.

I found "Introduction to Algorithms" [1] very accessible for a CS student and also "Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation" [2] very complete.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Algorithms-3rd-MIT-Press...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Automata_Theor...

thread