Goals: Introduce the theory of computability, including important results from study of automata and formal languages. The course studies regular, context-free, and context-sensitive languages, including their generation by grammars, and their recognition by automata. Notions of decidability and undecidability will be discussed.

Daily activity: I hope to keep the amount of fomal lecturing to a minimum. I will assign readings from the book, and ask you to attempt some problems. At the next class period, we will discuss the readings and the problems. A set of H/W problems (for credit) will be assigned, and the remainder of the class period will be devoted to working on them.

Tests: There will be four tests and a final examination, all in-class. I will allow one make-up of a test missed due to unavoidable circumstances. There is no provision for more than one missed test!

Homework: The homework assignment each day consists of two equally important parts:

1. working assigned problems: I will collect homework at unannounced times.
2. reading the next lesson (and understanding its concepts and examples): I will ask you to try some exercises. Come to class prepared to present your solutions.

Interim progress reports: After each test, you will receive a slip of paper that has the following numerical entries on it:

Please check these numbers against your own records, as clerical errors can occur. Note:

Attendance: You are expected to attend all classes, arrive on time, and remain until the end of class (8:45).

Illness and emergencies: I cannot accept late H/W, as it is a paperwork nightmare.  So as not to penalize you for legitimate absences, I will drop 2 H/W grades.