University of Waterloo

Term and Year of Offering: Winter 2016

Course Number and Title: CS360, Introduction to the Theory of Computing

Instructor's Name Office Location Contact Office Hours
Naomi NIshimura DC 2344 nishi@uwaterloo.ca M 3-4 Th 2-3

TA's Name Office LocationContactOffice Hours
Mohamed Khochtali DC 3139 mohamed.khochtali@uwaterloo.ca W 1:45-3:45

Course Description:

Models of computers including finite automata and Turing machines. Basics of formal languages with applications to the syntax of programming languages. Alternate characterizations of language classes. Unsolvable problems and their relevance to the semantics of programming.

Course Objectives:

To give a basic introduction to the theoretical foundations of computer science.

Course Overview:

Finite Automata (10 hours)

Deterministic and non-deterministic finite automata and their equivalence. Equivalence with regular expressions. Closure properties. The pumping lemma and applications.

Context-free Grammars (10 hours)

Definitions. Parse trees. The pumping lemma for CFLs and applications. Normal forms. General parsing. Sketch of equivalence with pushdown automata.

Turing Machines (9 hours)

Designing simple TMs. Variations in the basic model (multi-tape, multi-head, non-determinism). Church-Turing thesis and evidence to support it through the study of other models.

Undecidability (7 hours)

The undecidability of the halting problem. Reductions to other problems. Reduction in general.

Required text:


Hopcroft-Motwani-Ullman: Introduction to automata theory, languages, and computation

Evaluation:

Assignments 30% Two tests 25% Final exam 45% Dates: Test 1 February 11 Test 2 March 15 Assignments: 1 Tuesday, 26 Jan, 11:30 AM 2 Tuesday, 9 Feb, 11:30 AM 3 Tuesday, 8 Mar, 11:30 AM 4 Monday, 4 April, 11:30 AM

Late policy:

Late homework will not be accepted. Missing assignments will receive the mark of 0.

Rules for Group Work:

Students may work together on assignments provided they write up their solutions separately and provide a list of collaborators.

Indication of how late submission of assignments and missed assignments will be treated

Late homework will not be accepted. Missing assignments will receive the mark of 0.

Indication of where students are to submit assignments and pick up marked assignments

Submit to drop boxes on third floor of MC. Pick up in class or office hours.

Academic Integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo community are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. [Check www.uwaterloo.ca/academicintegrity/ for more information.]

Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4, www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy70.htm. When in doubt please be certain to contact the department's administrative assistant who will provide further assistance.

Discipline: A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity [check www.uwaterloo.ca/academicintegrity/] to avoid committing an academic offence, and to take responsibility for his/her actions. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about 'rules' for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course instructor, academic advisor, or the undergraduate Associate Dean. For information on categories of offences and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71, Student Discipline, www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy71.htm. For typical penalties check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties, www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/guidelines/penaltyguidelines.htm.

Appeals: A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70 (Student Petitions and Grievances) (other than a petition) or Policy 71 (Student Discipline) may be appealed if there is a ground. A student who believes he/she has a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72 (Student Appeals) www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy72.htm.

Note for Students with Disabilities: The Office for persons with Disabilities (OPD), located in Needles Hall, Room 1132, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with the OPD at the beginning of each academic term.