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The algebraic theory of automata was created by Schützenberger and Chomsky over 50 years ago and there has since been a great deal of development. Classical work on the theory to noncommutative power series has been augmented more recently to areas such as representation theory, combinatorial mathematics and theoretical computer science. This book presents to an audience of graduate students and researchers a modern account of the subject and its applications. The algebraic approach allows the theory to be developed in a general form of wide applicability. For example, number-theoretic results can now be more fully explored, in addition to applications in automata theory, codes and non-commutative algebra. Much material, for example, Schützenberger's theorem on polynomially bounded rational series, appears here for the first time in book form. This is an excellent resource and reference for all those working in algebra, theoretical computer science and their areas of overlap.
A systematic program design method can help developers ensure the correctness and performance of programs while minimizing the development cost. This book describes a method that starts with a clear specification of a computation and derives an efficient implementation by step-wise program analysis and transformations. The method applies to problems specified in imperative, database, functional, logic and object-oriented programming languages with different data, control and module abstractions. Designed for courses or self-study, this book includes numerous exercises and examples that require minimal computer science background, making it accessible to novices. Experienced practitioners and researchers will appreciate the detailed examples in a wide range of application areas including hardware design, image processing, access control, query optimization and program analysis. The last section of the book points out directions for future studies.
This is a book about names and symmetry in the part of computer science that has to do with programming languages. Although symmetry plays an important role in many branches of mathematics and physics, its relevance to computer science may not be so clear to the reader. This introduction explains the computer science motivation for a theory of names based upon symmetry and provides a guide to what follows.
Atomic names
Names are used in many different ways in computer systems and in the formal languages used to describe and construct them. This book is exclusively concerned with what Needham calls ‘pure names’:
A pure name is nothing but a bit-pattern that is an identifier, and is only useful for comparing for identity with other such bit-patterns – which includes looking up in tables to find other information. The intended contrast is with names which yield information by examination of the names themselves, whether by reading the text of the name or otherwise. […] like most good things in computer science, pure names help by putting in an extra stage of indirection; but they are not much good for anything else.
(Needham, 1989, p. 90)
We prefer to use the adjective ‘atomic’ rather than ‘pure’, because for this kind of name, internal structure is irrelevant; their only relevant attribute is their identity. Although such names may not be much good for anything other than indirection, that one thing is a hugely important and very characteristic aspect of computer science.