2019 EXAMINATIONS

Part II

COMPUTING AND COMMUNICATIONS [2.5 Hours]

SCC.312 Languages and Compilation

Candidates are asked to answer THREE questions from FOUR; each question is worth a total of
25 marks.

Use a separate answer book for each question

Question 1

1.a Let M be a deterministic finite state machine (DFSM) whose alphabet is {0, 1}. Which of
the following statements about M are valid?
i. M accepts 0.
ii. If M has a final state, then the language recognized by M is not empty, that is,
L(M ) ≠ ∅.
iii. If M accepts 0 and 00, then it also accepts 000.

iv. If L(M ) = 0+, then M has more than one state.

v. If ε ∈ L(M ), then M ’s initial state is also a final state.
[5 marks]

1.b Draw a smallest (in terms of the number of states) DFSM K such that the language
recognized by K, that is, L(K) = {w | w ends with a 0 }. Assume that the alphabet is
{0, 1}.
[4 marks]

1.c Consider the nondeterministic finite state machine (NFSM) N in Figure 1 (assume its
alphabet is {0, 1}).

0 1

0,1
a b
1

Figure 1: NFSM N

For each of the following strings, give the set of states N is in after reading the string
and also indicate whether the string is accepted or rejected.
i. 0101
ii. 1011
[8 marks]

Question 1 continues on next page…

 Question 1 continued.

1.d Consider the NFSM N in Figure 1 (again, assume its alphabet is {0, 1}). Suppose we
converted it into a deterministic version D by applying the subset construction algo-
rithm that we studied in class. The algorithm tells us that the set of states of D is
{∅, {a}, {b}, {a, b}}. By applying the algorithm further, answer the following questions
about D.
i. Give the initial state of D.
ii. Give the set of final states of D.
iii. Give the state D transitions into upon seeing 1 in {a, b}.
iv. Give the state D transitions into upon seeing 0 in {a}.
[8 marks]

Total 25 marks
Question 2
2.a Which of the following statements are true?
i. Every string in the language of regular expressions defines a language that may or may not
be regular.
ii. Every subset of a regular language is regular
iii. To prove a language is regular, it is sufficient to give an FSM for it
iv. Context-free languages are a subset of regular languages
v. Σ+ ⊆ Σ∗
[5 marks]

2.b Give regular expressions for the following languages. Assume the alphabet is {0, 1}.
i. {w | w contains a single 0}
ii. {w | w begins and ends with 1}
[6 marks]

2.c Let G1 be the following grammar.

P→ε
P →0
P →1
P → 0P0
P → 1P1

Let L(G1) be the language of G1. Which of the following statements are true?
i. {1, 10, 101, 1010} ⊆ L(G1)
ii. {ε, 0, 1, 10} ⊆ L(G1)
iii. {ε, 0, 1, 101} ⊆ L(G1)
iv. {0, 1, 101, 010} ⊆ L(G1)
[6 marks]
(Getting all the statements correct gets you full marks; zero otherwise)

Question 2 continues on next page…

 Question 2 continued.

2.d Characterize succinctly in English the kinds of strings G1 generates.

[2 marks]

2.e Let grammar G2 = (V, Σ, R, S) where V = {T } is the set of variables; Σ = {0, 1} is the set of
terminals; and S, the start variable, is T . Give the set of substitution rules R such that the
language of the grammar is {0n1n | n ≥ 0}.
[6 marks]

Total 25 marks
Question 3
3.a Define and provide an example of both explicit and implicit type conversion.

[3 marks]

3.b Explain how an Intermediate Language (IL) stage potentially limits the functionality of a
compiler?

[4 marks]

3.c

i. Using the following grammar and input string, show each step of a bottom-up (LR) parse.
At each step show the state of the stack.

[11 marks]

Grammar: Input:

S --> ID = EXPR “a = b * ( c + d )”

EXPR --> ID | ID OP EXPR | ( EXPR )

OP --> + | - | *

ID --> a | b | c | d

ii. Explain what is meant by ‘back tracking’ with regard to compilers.

[2 marks]

iii. Which rule in the grammar used for 3.c.i would potentially cause significant back-tracking
in our bottom-up parser? Explain how and be specific.

[2 marks]

3.d.

i. Define the key difference between a macro-assembler and a compiler

[1 mark]

ii. Provide an example of an operation traditionally done by a compiler that could be done
by a macro-assembler, and where it could fail

[2 marks]

Total 25 marks
Question 4
4.a Explain the advantages of having an Intermediate Language (IL) stage in a compiler suite.

[3 marks]

4.b Most programming languages are “whitespace agnostic” - what does this mean, and
how would a lexical analyser for such a language handle whitespace?

[2 marks]

4.c In a language using structure equivalence to determine type equality, explain how the
following pseudocode definition might cause problems.

type node is record

value : integer

next : pointer to node

end record

[3 marks]

4.d Here is a grammar G, with terminals {v, m, t}, non-terminals (Z, Q, R} and Z is the
distinguished symbol.

Z -> Q v R

Z -> R

Q -> m R

R -> t

Build the Action and Goto tables for this grammar using the procedure below, as taught in
the lectures:

- Step 1: Augment the grammar. [1 mark]

- Step 2: Build the item sets. [8 marks]
- Step 3: Generate the state transition table. [6 marks]
- Step 4: Produce the Action and Goto Tables. [2 marks]

[17 marks]

Total 25 marks

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