Lecture # 4

Theory Of Automata
By
Dr. Ahmed Hesham Mostafa
Next

NFA

Regular
expressions DFA

Lexical Implementation of DFA

Specification

2
 Speeding Up The Scanner

• A DFA is like an NFA, but with tighter restrictions

▪ Every state must have exactly one transition defined for every letter.
▪ ε-moves are not allowed.
The subset construction of a DFA from an NFA
Algorithm
• INPUT: An NFA N.
• OUTPUT: A DFA D accepting the same language as N.
• algorithm constructs a transition table Dtran for D.
• Each state of D is a set of NFA states, and we construct Dtran so D will
simulate in parallel all possible moves N can make on a given input
string.
• The start state of D is ε-closure(s0), and the accepting states of D are
all those sets of N's states that include at least one accepting state of
N.
 Operations on NFA states
• Dentitions of several functions that describe basic computations on
the states of N that are needed in the algorithm.
• Note that s is a single state of NFA, while T is a set of states of NFA.
 Example 1 - From NFA to DFA
• Then get the NFA for (alb)*abb
•
 Example 1 - From NFA to DFA
NFA State DFA State a b
• the NFA accepting (a|b)*abb; {0,1,2,4,7} A

ε-closure(0) = {0,1,2,4,7} = A

▪ since these are exactly the states

reachable from state 0 via a path
all of whose edges have label ε.
▪ Note that a path can have zero
edges, so state 0 is reachable
from itself by an ε -labeled path.
 Example 1 - From NFA to DFA
• The input alphabet is {a, b). Thus, our first step is to mark A and compute
▪ Dtran[A, a] = ε -closure(move(A, a))
▪ Dtran[A, b] = ε - closure(move(A, b))

• Among the states 0, 1, 2, 4, and 7,

only 2 and 7 have transitions on a,
to 3 and 8, respectively. NFA State DFA State a b
{0,1,2,4,7} A B
Thus, move(A, a) = {3,8).
{1,2,3,4,6,7,8} B
Also, ε -closure({3,8}) = {1,2,3,4,6,7,8}
, so we conclude Dtran[A, a] = ε -closure(move(A, a)) = ε -closure({3, 8}) = B
 Example 1 - From NFA to DFA
• Now, we must compute Dtran[A, b]. Among the states in A, only 4 has a
transition on b, and it goes to 5. Thus,
Dtran[A, b] = ε -closure(move(A, b)) = ε -closure({5}) = {I, 2, 4,5, 6,7} = C

NFA State DFA State a b

{0,1,2,4,7} A B C
{1,2,3,4,6,7,8} B
{I, 2, 4,5, 6,7} C
 Example 1 - From NFA to DFA
• B={1,2,3,4,6,7,8}
• Now, we must compute Dtran[B, a].
Dtran[B, a] = ε -closure(move(B, a)) = ε -closure({3,8}) = B
Now, we must compute Dtran[B, b].
Dtran[B, b] = ε -closure(move(B, b)) = ε -closure({5,9}) = {1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9} = D

NFA State DFA State a b

{0,1,2,4,7} A B C
{1,2,3,4,6,7,8} B B D
{I, 2, 4,5, 6,7} C
{1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9} D
 Example 1 - From NFA to DFA
• C= {I, 2, 4,5, 6, 7}
▪ Now, we must compute Dtran[C, a].
Dtran[C, a] = ε -closure(move(C, a)) = ε -closure({3,8}) = B
▪ Now, we must compute Dtran[C, b].
Dtran[C, b] = ε -closure(move(C, b)) = ε -closure({5}) = C
NFA State DFA State a b
{0,1,2,4,7} A B C
{1,2,3,4,6,7,8} B B D
{I, 2, 4,5, 6,7} C B C
{1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9} D
 Example 1 - From NFA to DFA
• D= {I, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9}
▪ Now, we must compute Dtran[D, a].
Dtran[D, a] = ε -closure(move(D, a)) = ε -closure({3,8}) = B
▪ Now, we must compute Dtran[D, b].
Dtran[D, b] = ε -closure(move(D, b)) = ε -closure({5,10}) = {1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10} = E

NFA State DFA State a b

{0,1,2,4,7} A B C
{1,2,3,4,6,7,8} B B D
{I, 2, 4,5, 6,7} C B C
{1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9} D B E
{1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10} E
 Example 1 - From NFA to DFA
• E = {1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10} //note 10 is the acceptance state
▪ Now, we must compute Dtran[E, a].
Dtran[E, a] = ε -closure(move(E, a)) = ε -closure({3,8}) = B
▪ Now, we must compute Dtran[E, b].
Dtran[E, b] = ε -closure(move(E, b)) = ε -closure({5}) = C
NFA State DFA State a b
{0,1,2,4,7} A B C
{1,2,3,4,6,7,8} B B D
{I, 2, 4,5, 6,7} C B C
{1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9} D B E
{1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10} E B C
 Example 1 - From NFA to DFA
• Transition table Dtran for DFA
 Example 1 - From NFA to DFA
• the DFA for (a | b)* abb
 Minimizing the Number of States of a DFA
• Divide state into two groups Accepting and non-accepting states.
• Find the repeated states from transition table.
• Remove the one of the repeated states (remove from down states).
• Replace the occurrence of the deleted state with the equivalent state
from upper state in table.
• Don't remove the acceptance state, just replace the removed states.
 Minimizing the Number of States of a DFA
a b
A B C
B B D
C B C
D B E
E B C

• State A,C ,E have the same transitions {B,C}.

• State E is Acceptance state can not be removed.
• So, there are now two equivalent and repeated states A and C.
• One of them must be removed {remove from down state}.
• So, state C will be removed, and all its occurrence will be replaced by State A.
 Minimizing the Number of States of a DFA
• The minimum state DFA will be:
b
a b
a
A B A
B B D a

D B E a b b
E B A A B D E

b a
Subset Construction Method
NFA without ε-transitions
 Subset Construction Method
NFA without ε-transitions
Fig1. NFA without ε-transitions

3
b a
a Step1
a
a 2 b
Construct a transition table showing all
a,b reachable states for every state for
1 5
every input signal.
a,b a
4

b
 Subset Construction Method
NFA without ε-transitions
Transition table
Fig1. NFA without ε-transitions

3 State a b
b a 1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5}
a
a ??? ???
a 2 b 2 {3}
??? {5}
???
a,b
1 5 3 {2}
∅
??? ???
a,b
4
a 4 {5}
??? {4}
???
5 ∅
??? ∅
???
b
 Subset Construction Method
NFA without ε-transitions
Transition from state q with Transition from state q
Transition table
input a with input b
Fig1. NFA without ε-transitions

3 State a b
b a Starts here 1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5}
a
a ??? ???
a 2 b 2 {3}
??? {5}
???
a,b
1 5 3 {2}
∅
??? ???
a,b
4
a 4 {5}
??? {4}
???
5 ∅
??? ∅
???
b
 Subset Construction Method
NFA without ε-transitions

Step2
State a b
1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5} The set of states resulting from every
transition function constitutes a new
2 {3} {5} state.
Calculate all reachable states for every
3 ∅ {2} such state for every input signal using
union operation.
4 {5} {4} Note 1 is the start state
Note 5 is accept state , so every new
5 ∅ ∅ state will contain 5 will be considered
accept state
 Subset Construction table

State a b Starts with

Initial state
State a b
{1,2,3,4,5} 1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5}
1 {4,5}

2 {3} {5}

3 ∅ {2}

4 {5} {4}

5 ∅ ∅
Transition table Subset Construction table

State a b Starts with State a b

Initial state
1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5} 1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5}
{1,2,3,4,5}
2 {3} {5}
{4,5}
3 ∅ {2}

4 {5} {4}

5 ∅ ∅
Transition table Subset Construction table

State a b Starts with State a b

Initial state
1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5} 1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5}
{1,2,3,4,5}
2 {3} {5}
{4,5}
3 ∅ {2}

4 {5} {4}

5 ∅ ∅

Step3
Repeat this process(step2) until no
more new states are reachable.
Transition table Subset Construction table

State a b State a b
{1,2,3,4,5} 1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5}
1 {4,5}
{1,2,3,4,5} {1,2,3,4,5}
??? {2,4,5}
???
2 {3} {5}
{4,5}
3 ∅ {2} {2,4,5}
4 {5} {4}

5 ∅ ∅
Transition table Subset Construction table

State a b State a b
1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5} 1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5}
{1,2,3,4,5} {1,2,3,4,5} {2,4,5}
2 {3} {5}
{4,5} 5
??? 4
???
3 ∅ {2}
{2,4,5}
4 {5} {4}
5
5 ∅ ∅ 4
Transition table Subset Construction table

State a b State a b
1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5} 1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5}
{1,2,3,4,5} {1,2,3,4,5} {2,4,5}
2 {3} {5}
{4,5} 5 4
3 ∅ {2}
{2,4,5} {3,5}
??? {4,5}
???
4 {5} {4}
5
5 ∅ ∅ 4
{3,5}
Transition table Subset Construction table

State a b State a b
{1,2,3,4,5} 1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5}
1 {4,5}
{1,2,3,4,5} {1,2,3,4,5} {2,4,5}
2 {3} {5}
{4,5} 5 4
3 ∅ {2} {3,5} {4,5}
{2,4,5}
4 {5} {4} 5 ∅
??? ∅
???
5 ∅ ∅ 4
{3,5}

∅
Transition table Subset Construction table

State a b State a b
1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5} 1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5}
{1,2,3,4,5} {1,2,3,4,5} {2,4,5}
2 {3} {5}
{4,5} 5 4
3 ∅ {2}
{2,4,5} {3,5} {4,5}
4 {5} {4}
5 ∅ ∅
5 ∅ ∅ 4 5
??? 4
???
{3,5}
We already got 4 and 5.
So we don’t add them again.
∅
Note ∅ is Dead State
Transition table Subset Construction table

State a b State a b
1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5} 1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5}
{1,2,3,4,5} {1,2,3,4,5} {2,4,5}
2 {3} {5}
{4,5} 5 4
3 ∅ {2}
{2,4,5} {3,5} {4,5}
4 {5} {4}
5 ∅ ∅
5 ∅ ∅ 4 5 4
{3,5} ∅
??? 2
???
∅
2
Transition table Subset Construction table

State a b State a b
1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5} 1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5}
{1,2,3,4,5} {1,2,3,4,5} {2,4,5}
2 {3} {5}
{4,5} 5 4
3 ∅ {2}
{2,4,5} {3,5} {4,5}
4 {5} {4}
5 ∅ ∅
5 ∅ ∅ 4 5 4
{3,5} ∅ 2

∅ ∅
??? ∅
???
2
Transition table Subset Construction table

State a b State a b
1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5} 1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5}
{1,2,3,4,5} {1,2,3,4,5} {2,4,5}
2 {3} {5}
{4,5} 5 4
3 ∅ {2}
{2,4,5} {3,5} {4,5}
4 {5} {4}
5 ∅ ∅
5 ∅ ∅ 4 5 4
{3,5} ∅ 2

∅ ∅ ∅
2 3
??? 5
???
3
Transition table Subset Construction table

State a b State a b
1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5} 1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5}
{1,2,3,4,5} {1,2,3,4,5} {2,4,5}
2 {3} {5}
{4,5} 5 4
3 ∅ {2}
{2,4,5} {3,5} {4,5}
4 {5} {4}
5 ∅ ∅
5 ∅ ∅ 4 5 4
{3,5} ∅ 2

∅ ∅ ∅
Stops here as there are no 2 3 5
more reachable states
3 ∅
??? 2
???
 Resulting FA after applying Subset
Subset Construction table Construction.
a
State a b
1 {1,2,3,4,5} {4,5} b a
12345 245
{1,2,3,4,5} {1,2,3,4,5} {2,4,5}
35
{4,5} 5 4 a
a,b a
{2,4,5} {3,5} {4,5}
b
b
5 ∅ ∅ 1
∅ a
3

4 5 4 b a,b b
a
{3,5} ∅ 2
2
a
∅ ∅ ∅ 45 5 b
2 3 5 b 4 a
3 ∅ 2
b
References

• Compilers – Principles, Techniques and Tools, Second Edition by Alfred V.

Aho, Ravi Sethi, Jeffery D. Ullman.
• Compiler Construction. Principles And Practice Kenneth C.
• Keith D. Cooper & Linda Torczon ,Cooper: Engineering a Compiler, 2e Lecture Slides
(elsevier.com),2010

37
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