Computability, Complexity, and Languages: Fundamentals of Theoretical Computer Science

by Martin D. Davis, Elaine J. Weyuker, Werner Rheinboldt (Editor)

Computability, Complexity, and Fundamentals of Theoretical Computer Science provides an introduction to the various aspects of theoretical computer science. Theoretical computer science is the mathematical study of models of computation. This text is composed of five parts encompassing 17 chapters, and begins with an introduction to the use of proofs in mathematics and the development of computability theory in the context of an extremely simple abstract programming language. The succeeding parts demonstrate the performance of abstract programming language using a macro expansion technique, along with presentations of the regular and context-free languages. Other parts deal with the aspects of logic that are important for computer science and the important theory of computational complexity, as well as the theory of NP-completeness. The closing part introduces the advanced recursion and polynomial-time computability theories, including the priority constructions for recursively enumerable Turing degrees. This book is intended primarily for undergraduate and graduate mathematics students.

Genres: Computer Science, Programming

425 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Martin David Davis (born 1928) is Professor Emeritus at New York University's Computer Science Department.

Reviews

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazon Review

I regret not reading this book earlier

This book contains all the foundational information that you may need to understand theoretical computer science. The book not only presents but also proves the most relevant form of computations. Using those forms of computations, the authors prove several relevant theorems in computer science (e.g. Rice theorem, impossibility of the halting problem, Godel incompleteness theorem for predicate calculus, Cook's theorem, etc). All the theorems are well motivated and presented during the right time.

I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in the theory of computability. Indeed, the book covers so many topics that you'd probably need 3 or 4 books to get the same material.

Pedro Andres Rangel Walteros

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If there is a single book on the theory of computing that should be in every college library collection, this is it. Although written as a text for an advanced undergraduate course in theoretical computer science, the book may serve as an introductory resource, or the foundation for independent study, in many areas of theoretical computing: grammars, automata theory, computability, complexity theory, and unsolvability. The beauty of this book is that the breadth of coverage is complemented with extraordinary depth.

Choice

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Theoretical computer science is often viewed as a collection of disparate topics, including computability theory, formal language theory, complexity theory, logic, and so on. This well-written book attempts to unify the subject by introducing each of these topics in turn, then showing how they relate to each other....This is an excellent book that succeeds in tying together a number of areas in theoretical computer science.

Computing Reviews

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Back Cover

This book is a rigorous but readable introduction to some of the central topics in theoretical computer science. The main subjects are computability theory, formal languages, logic and automated deduction, computational complexity (including NP-completeness), and programming language semantics.

[Jfma339]

good book