begin quoting James G. Sack (jim) as of Thu, Oct 25, 2007 at 08:43:58PM -0700: > Stewart Stremler wrote: [snip] > > You want the standard DFA/NDFA description? > > > > Perhaps a formal languages presentation? > > > > Don't think I could do proofs without a lot of prepwork. > > Well, I don't have a formal CS background, and although I hear these > terms, and have _some_ basic understanding, I'm sure I don't appreciate > the "real meaning" of it all.
I don't know if there's a lightbulb-moment or not. I think they're pretty simple -- the hard stuff is in the proofs and the transforms. > For instance, it's not obvious to me why one would say > eg, "..state machines are great. They make all problems easy.." Well, that egregious rhetoric. Problems don't go away, they just move around. It's a zero-sum game: you can push the dirt around, but you can't get rid of it. It's just that sometimes you can find a nice big rug. > ..but I have heard similar statements before. Just never pursued it, I > guess. Those of us who love state machines... well, we love state machines. :) > So, I guess I'm not looking for the proofs (correctness and/or > whatever), but just a summary of the theory.. Circles-and-arrows. The theory depends on what you're trying to do. > ..and [really neat if someone c/would do this] a few examples of coding > practice to implement state machines for simple-but-real problems. There are several approaches, each with their tradeoffs. > I suppose I should just go reading and trying to teach myself, but I was > hoping some evangelist might like to provide a couple hours of > entertainment and enlightenment. Hm... a formal languages overview. Might be fun. -- Alas, not for me, not for awhile. Stewart Stremler -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-lpsg
