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Preface

Contents

Index

Glossary

Models

Rogues

...Abstraction

              

Page 2

Determining the Underlying Model

If our business is abstraction, we need to identify the characteristics of the kinds of automata, or machines, that we want to study.  What are the common properties of these machines?  We can list some here

 
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They have a finite number of memory states.

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One of the memory states is designated to be the start state, the state in which the machine always first starts

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Some of the memory states are selected to be goal states, or end states.

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Each input to the machine by the user causes the machine to change states from the current memory state to a different memory state based on what the input is.

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The set of inputs is well specified.  For example, if a dispensing machine takes coins, it only takes certain kinds, such as US nickels, dimes, and quarters.  This set of inputs is also finite.

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The sequence of inputs is finite.  For example, if someone is using a candy bar dispenser, he or she will only input a finite number of coins.