Introduction to the Theory of Computation

My appreciation for this book has grown a lot over time. At first, when reading it for a course, it appeared to me as Yet Another Textbook. Now, years later and working in a related field, I find myself recommending this book all the time. Sipser does a lovely job introducing the Chomsky hierarchy and increasingly powerful models of computation (finite state automata, pushdown automata, and Turing machines) in both their deterministic and nondeterministic variants, and later transitions into explaining the context that these play in modern complexity theory (along with going over some introductory complexity theory itself). All of it is written wonderfully, too. This is one of the easiest-to-read textbooks I've encountered over the years.If you truly wish to understand computation at the axiomatic level, Sipser is undoubtedly the first book you should be picking up.

Anyone who is interested in computation theory.This book is awesome.Sipser is a genius and Theory of Computation is an amazing subject with proofs built upon each other until incredible answers to questions that would seem to be a vast journey to figure out are completed in mathematical notation before your eyes.I suggest reading this book even if you won't understand everything in it just to get a feel for what is going on. It was certainly a help for me to not be in the dark so much for every lecture of my insanely complex college class. This book gives you the math, but starts from where it makes sense so you can follow the thinking along and see the purpose and application of everything as well as understand the main fundamental concepts.I recommend reading this book spread out before, during and after your theory class as you find it natural.

This was used as a supplement for a theory of computations course I took. The teacher provided us all the problems and recommended any edition of this book as a supplement. I'm not a fan of text book prices, but this one is cheap and useful for studying or solidifying some concepts.This is a great supplement, though it would be confusing on its own.The problems are great and you can find answers to a good chunk of them to see if you're doing it right.

The condition is listed as Good. However, when I receive the item, the cover is in danger of falling apart. I would say the condition is only acceptable. Other than that, it is good.

Se indicó que el libro estaba en excelente estado y fue acertada la observación, llegó sin ningún daño.

As a near-straight A computer science student, I bought this book while taking an Automata and Computability class. This book was terrible. It had zero real life examples of how the theory would ever be used. I simply couldn't relate to the material. In fact, all of the examples provided were outdated by at least 45-50 years. Some of the devices used in the examples no longer existed (like some pre-historic tape machines).I later took the same class with another teacher who didn't use any books but instead used examples like soda machine that dispenses correct change, etc. Much more helpful.The book was very confusing. I'm glad it's over. I left the book in the lobby of my building for some poor soul to pick it up. :)

This text provides a gentle introduction of this theory covering all three aspects: automata, complexity, and computability. This book does not include the long and tedious mathemathical proofs of its assertions that might be found in similiar text. For some one who is looking for a simple conceptual introduction with ample "laymen's explanations", an excellent book for a refresher on the subject, or a supplemental text for a course which they are taking or teaching, this work is subperb. At some point, I plan on purchasing another Sipser text on another computing topic if available.

I had this book in a computer theory course and I looked up similar books in the library looking for extra help and different perspectives. They were all horrible in comparison! No book can make this topic as easy as something hands-on like programming, but this one does the best I can imagine. The proofs are preceded by a "proof idea" that outlines what's going on before you get into the rigorous details. The writing is fluid and discusses the implications of the theorems and why they're important. This gives the reader an appreciation of the topic, which is a rare thing in something this arcane. Even if your course doesn't use this book, I recommend buying it as a supplement. I expect it to become a classic in the field.