Course Title: Automata and Formal Languages
Total Credits: 4
Course Description

Formal languages; finite automata and regular expressions; properties of regular languages; pushdown automata and context-free grammars; properties of context-free languages; introduction to Turing machines and computability.

Instructor: Tevfik Bultan (bultan@cs.ucsb.edu); Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 1:00-2:00pm at HFH 2159.

TAs:
Jingtao Xia (Jingtaoxia@ucsb.edu); Office Hours: Tuesdays 3:30-5:30 pm at TA Trailer (Building 936, Room 103)
Achintya Desai (achintya@ucsb.edu); Office Hours: Office Hours: Fridays 1:00-3:00 pm at TA Trailer (Building 936, Room 103)

ULAs:
Riley Paddock (riley_paddock@ucsb.edu); Office Hours: Mondays 4:00pm - 6:00pm at CSIL Annex (Building 434, Room 122A)
Ved Pradhan (vpradhan@ucsb.edu); Office Hours: Office Hours: Wednesdays 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm at CSIL Annex (Building 434, Room 122A)

Class Webpage: http://www.cs.ucsb.edu/~bultan/courses/138/
Class communication: https://piazza.com/ucsb/fall2025/cmpsc138/home

Lectures:
Monday/Wednesday 11:00AM-12:15PM, TD-W 1701
Discussion Sections:
Friday 10:00-10:50 PHELP 1508
Friday 11:00-11:50 GIRV 2128
Friday 12:00-12:50 SH 1430

Textbook: Introduction to the Theory of Computation, Michael Sipser, ISBN: 978-1133187790, Cengage Learning, 3rd edition

Course work and Grading Policy:
Course work for this class includes attendance to lectures and discussion sections, reading assignments from the textbook, homework assignments, a midterm, and a final.
Grading will be based on two exams (midterm and final) and a number (4-5) of homework assignments. Grade percentages will be 50% homeworks, 25% midterm, 25% final.

Announcements (Follow piazza for announcements)

• No discussion sections on September 26th.
• FINAL exam will be on Thursday, December 11, 12:00-3:00.
• Reading Assignment for Week 0: Please read Chapter 0 from the Textbook before the first lecture on September 29th.
• Reading Assignment for Week 1 and 2: Please read Sections 1.1 and 1.2 from Chapter 1 of the Textbook.
• Reading Assignment for Week 3: Please read Section 1.3 from Chapter 1 of the Textbook.
• MIDTERM exam will be on Wednesday, November 12, in class
• Reading Assignment for Week 4: Please read Section 1.4 from Chapter 1 and Section 2.1 from Chapter 2 of the Textbook.
• Reading Assignment for Week 5: Please read Section 2.2 from Chapter 2 of the Textbook.

Policy on Cheating and Plagiarism:
Homework assignments and exams are individual assignments. Any homework solution or exam submitted by a student should be done solely by that student. Using automated problem solving tools (such as AI tools) for homeworks or exams is NOT allowed. Violation of these constraints is considered cheating. Cheating will result in a 0 grade for the assignment, and depending on severity, can result in a failing grade for the class or possible administrative action by UCSB.