CMPS 260 Theoretical Foundations of Computer Science Spring 2020

Time and Place:  -T-R- 4:00pm − 5:15pm in LSC 091
Instructor:  Dr. R. McCloskey
Office:  LSC 191
Telephone:  941-4221 (office), 941-7774 (CS Dept. office), 941-4250 (fax)
E-mail:  robert.mccloskey@scranton.edu
Office Hours:  See schedule
Course Web Page 
Textbook: An Introduction to Formal Languages and Automata (6th edition), by Peter Linz, published by Jones & Bartlett

CTLE: Services for Students
Reporting Obligations

Student Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of the course, a student should be able to

• identify the language classes in the Chomsky Hierarchy, know their relative positions within that hierarchy, and know which category of automaton and/or grammar gives rise to each class.
• design finite automata and regular expressions corresponding to informally described regular languages
• convert a given NFA into an equivalent DFA
• convert a given DFA into its equivalent minimal DFA
• convert a regular expression into an equivalent NFA, and vice versa
• design context-free grammars corresponding to informally described context-free languages
• show an understanding of top-down and bottom-up parsing
• demonstrate why various "extended" Turing machine models are no more powerful than the basic model
• appreciate the concept of undecidability and identify a few classic undecidable problems

Exams and quizzes:  Expect a 75-minute exam on March 5. A comprehensive two-hour final exam will be administered sometime during Final Exam Week, which is May 18-22. (Makeup exams will be offered only if circumstances warrant it, such as in the case of an emergency or sudden illness.)

Expect short quizzes (taking about fifteen minutes) to be given approximately every two weeks.

Homework assignments: Expect weekly homework assignments, which typically can be completed using pen(cil) and paper. There could be one or two programming assignments, however.

Grading: Approximate weights of graded items:

Item	Approximate Weight
Midterm exam	16%
Quizzes	18%
Final Exam	24%
Homeworks	40%
Class Participation	2%

Mapping from numerical average to letter grade (approximate):

Numeric Range	[94,100+]	[90,94)	[86,90]	[82,86)	[79,82]	[75,79)	[71,75]	[68,71)	[63,68]	[58,63)	[0,58)
Letter Grade	A	A-	B+	B	B-	C+	C	C-	D+	D	F