Course Overview
Course Description
Prerequisites
CS211 and Math 125 (C or better in both).
Content
This course is an introduction to two kinds of formal systems -
languages (which are treated as sets of strings) and logics -
with important applications to computer
science. The study of formal languages underlies important aspects of
compilers and other language processing systems, as well as the theory
of computation. Various systems of logic and automatic reasoning are
put to use in artificial intelligence, database theory and software
engineering. The entire course will give you practice in precise
thinking and proof methods that play a role in the analysis of
algorithms.
Objectives and Outcomes
Will understand the concepts and relevance of logic, formal
languages and
automata theory, and computability.
Will be able to able to do mechanical formal proofs,
prove program correctness for simple programs, and solve
problems in
first-order logic.
Will be able to solve problems in elementary machine models:
designing
finite-state automata, pushdown automata and Turing machines.
Will be able to solve problems in formal languages:
writing regular
expressions, regular grammars, and context-free grammars.
Textbook
Title: Logic and Languages Models for Computer Science, 3rd edition.
Authors: Dana Richards and Henry Hamberger
Available at the campus bookstore
Note that the 3rd
edition is substantially different from the 2nd.
Logistics
Office Hours
All lectures and office hours will meet in person.
My office hours should be viewed as study sessions. All are
welcome at the same time! I'll take questions and we'll work through problems
together. For
students that expect to struggle with the material, I
strongly encourage you to attend at least one, and preferably both hours
each week. To speak to me privately, please
email me ahead of time, and I'll reserve some time for a private
discussion, likely at end of office hours.
MSFT Teams
I will answer all questions on MSFT Teams, rather than by
email. I realize that some posts need to be private,
but when in doubt, I encourage you to make your
posts public! Everyone will benefit from your
questions, and I prefer that we all learn from them.
Generally, I'm not that worried about questions that
give hints. (Within reason.)
Gradescope
Quizzes, homeworks and
exams will all be submitted through Gradescope.
You can find gradescope through Blackboard:
click on Tools, then gradescope. You should also be
able to access it directly from the gradescope website,
if you use your GMU login. When submitting an
assignment, please mark each question with the
appropriate question number, as this makes grading much
easier.
Overleaf
I will release the assignments on overleaf. This is a
web-based platform for writing latex documents. You do
not need special software, and I will not insist that
you use latex to write your answers. You can simply
view the PDF from the webpage, and submit answers to
Gradescope in whatever format you like. However,
I encourage you to use latex - it is fairly
easy, and produces nice PDFs. To do that, just copy
the project that I've shared, and edit.
Course Requirements
Grading
Quizzes -- 10%
Homeworks -- 30%
Exams -- 60%
Of two exams the highest score will count 35%, and the lowest 25%.
Homework
Homework will be assigned each week. The two lowest homework
grades will be dropped.
Suggestions: It will be very hard to do well
in this course if you do not do all of the homework by yourself,
including any optional problems.
You are strongly encouraged to
do all of the problems, and to ask questions, in
class and in office hours, when you do not
understand any of them. Don't start the homework the day
before it is due!
Quizzes
Quizzes are short: 1-3 questions, multiple choice or
fill-in-the-blank. You will need a laptop or phone to
answer the questions. The lowest 2 quiz scores will be dropped.
Each single quiz is worth < 1% of your
grade. They will be given at the start of class (don't be
late!), typically every other
class period. They will cover the previous 1 or 2 lectures,
and mainly serve to help me gauge what the students have
understood, and what needs further explanation.
Exams
All testing is closed book, and notes are not permitted.
The two exams, including the final, each cover about a half of the
semester. The final will focus on the 2nd half of the semester, but
may also include some material from the 1st half.
The midterm is Tuesday, October 5th, in class.
The final is Tuesday, 12/14,
1:30-4:15pm.
CS330 Adviser Forms
It is a departmental requirement that students in CS330 must see their
adviser and discuss their degree progress. The form can be downloaded
here. Be
sure to fill out the form before seeing your adviser, if you
are meeting virtually. This semester, I believe it is also OK to
communicate by email. Note, if
you do it earlier in the semester, you will be more likely to
connect with your adviser, and you will have more time to correct any
problems. If you wait until the last week, your adviser might not be
available. Students not fulfilling
this requirement will receive an Incomplete grade. (Non-majors are not included.)
Resources:
Inference Rules
Tentative Schedule