Introduction to the Theory of Computation

Sipser, Michael

ISBN 10: 053494728X / ISBN 13: 9780534947286

Published by PWS Pub. Co. (edition 1), 1997

About this Item

It's a well-cared-for item that has seen limited use. The item may show minor signs of wear. All the text is legible, with all pages included. It may have slight markings and/or highlighting.

Seller Inventory # 053494728X-11-1

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Introduction to the Theory of Computation
• Publisher: PWS Pub. Co. (edition 1)
• Publication Date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 053494728X
• ISBN 13: 9780534947286
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1.
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Michael Sipser's philosophy in writing this book is simple: make the subject interesting and relevant, and the students will learn. His emphasis on unifying computer science theory - rather than offering a collection of low-level details - sets the book apart, as do his intuitive explanations. Throughout the book, Sipser - a noted authority on the theory of computation - builds students' knowledge of conceptual tools used in computer science, the aesthetic sense they need to create elegant systems, and the ability to think through problems on their own. INTRODUCTION TO THE THEORY OF COMPUTATION provides a mathematical treatment of computation theory grounded in theorems and proofs. Proofs are presented with a "proof idea" component to reveal the concepts underpinning the formalism. Algorithms are presented using prose instead of pseudocode to focus attention on the algorithms themselves, rather than on specific computational models. Topic coverage, terminology, and order of presentation are traditional for an upper-level course in computer science theory. Users of the Preliminary Edition (now out of print) will be interested to note several new chapters on complexity theory: Chapter 8 on space complexity; Chapter 9 on provable intractability, and Chapter 10 on advanced topics, including approximation algorithms, alternation, interactive proof systems, cryptography, and parallel computing.

About the Author

Dr. Sipser has been at MIT teaching and doing research in computational complexity theory for the past 24 years. He has published on a variety of areas, including circuit complexity, interactive proof systems, probabilistic computation and quantum computation. He enjoys lecturing, and has given courses ranging from freshman calculus to advanced seminars in complexity. In addition to MIT, he has held positions at the University of California/Berkeley and at IBM research.