in all my many many hours of coding, consuming programming content and talking to other devs, i don't remember ever coming across a single mention of automata. Yet they take up a quarter of my high schools entire two year programming class. Are they actually useful enough to justify this time investment? they seem like little more than flow charts to me at this point. am i just being ignorant? i'd love to know where they appear in practice, even if it's just so that i can motivate myself enough to participate in the class. any hints appreciated.

I just recently finished studying Automata. I found it very interesting and enjoyed the intuitive process, even though I struggled a bit.

I was wondering what topics or subject matters would be best to study next?

It doesn’t qualify for 2800 credit, but I’m wondering if I could take 3110 anyway. How hard a prerequisite for 3110 is 2800, if I’ve taken discrete math?

nier is a fantastic game with hidden things all over the place and bits of story you might never find without playing multiple times and hacking things everywhere, i would love a theory that tries to explain something in this beautiful game.

I've heard those 2 are the hardest CS classes. I'm a pretty good CS student and I've mostly had A's in my classes so far. I'm deciding on what to take next semester, and I'm wondering if I could get done with OS and Automata in the same semester (I'd really like A's in both of them)? Anyone who's been through this/any advice? Thanks!

I'm not a senior and I'm taking the class. I have heard from some people and read some posts on this sub that say it's one of the hardest CS classes that you can take.

I have taken CS 3305, which is the only pre-req required for it and I did quite well in that class.

Maybe I'm just nervous because I'm back on campus and the past year was difficult for me but I just feel unprepared for it.

Any suggestions? Advice? Encouragement? Idk.

So, I had a thought recently, and I don’t know whether I am late to the idea, or if it has been discussed before. I was playing both games recently, and was pondering about the change in characters from Nier, Kaine and Yonah to the androids in Automata. I was also wondering why the game is called “NieR REINCARNATION”. So here is my thought, and I will explain it later. Nier was reincarnated as 9s, Yonah as 2b, and Kaine as A2. Here are the reasons below: First, dosent it seem that their characters overlap pretty cleanly? Almost too well for 2 different games, even though they are prequel and sequel. Nier is an overprotective brother who goes on long journeys to protect his sister, Yonah is the sick sister who wishes that her brother can take a break, and wants to protect him instead, and Kaine is a foul-mouthed deviant lone-wolf who is rejected by everyone, and sees people for what they really are. Doesn’t that sound familiar? It’s literally the character types in NieR automata. 9s is someone who finds that he wishes to protect 2b, 2b, who would be Yonah in this theory, finally has the chance to protect her brother, and Kaine is basically the same as A2. Second reason, towards the end of Nier Automata, when you enter the big tower, a lot of things happen that become questionable, if you played reincarnation first. You will travel past what looks like the inside of the shadowlord’s castle, the lost shrine, and what is unmistakeable as the library building. Isn’t it odd that 9s, who would presumably have no connection to these places, would see them? Also, on another note, both games have their last fight scenes as you (Nier or 9s) fighting against Kaine or A2, with you having control over who should die. One last point, about the game’s structuring, there are some similar scenes that you will encounter, such as chasing down people in the shadowlord’s castle, in both games being interested in what is behind the door in the library, scenes of popola and devola embracing each other as they die, so on (also how did the twins come back? Need to read into that) Anyways, this was all the connections I could make firmly, the other points are kinda all over the place, and are about game progression and other stuff. I can’t remember everything from the games either, I am not gonna sit and play them with a pen and paper in hand. Also, I can’t explain stuff like “If Kaine is A2 why did she kill 2b”, but I am interested to hear some counter-arguments. Let me know what

Edit

I didn't know there's a difference between Automata Theory and what I was referring to

I was referring to Automata Theory and Computability

Hello there,
I am currently in my 4th semester and I've pretty much enjoyed all the CS related subjects that I've had to take. However, this particular subject is giving me a hard time. But that also doesn't mean that I am not familiar with some of the basic things in this subject. For example, I am totally aware of alphabets, strings and formal and informal languages. So far we have covered DFA, NFA, DFA & NFA equivalence, Epsilon NFA, Regular Expressions and finally Kleene's Theorem.
I am able to create finite automations for these, however it takes me a lot of time to do so. For example, I was going through a problem (it was about constructing a dfa for a sequence of five consecutive letters with two zero in them), and it took me almost an hour to complete.
I had been quite confident with the subject initially, however after getting average marks in my recent quiz, I'm quite demotivated. The quiz had conceptual questions like: "can a DFA represent a pallindrome?", and I thought that it did (which I later got to know was wrong).
I am willing to follow through any kind of useful resources, and I am willing to put a lot of dedication into this subject. What can I do to get better at it?
Also the textbook that we are following is: Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation by Jeffery Ullman and John Hopcroft

Hi there,

Looking for help with Computation Theory and Automata test this Friday from 5-7 EST. It is a computer science course based on discreet math. It is a two hour test. Will require knowledge on the below.

Sets, Sequences, Function and Relations, Alphabets strings and Languages, finite automata and Non-determinism.

Willing to pay well for a knowledgeable person on the subject. Since its a online test, 2 hour commitment is required. Thank you.

Hello, I'm planning to attend one of those class in Fall. What will be more beneficial to QC? Information Theory is classcal one. Thanks.

Same as title.

Might be something simple but I'm not able to think of an answer.
A little help can go a long way.

The idea that Whitehead's metaphysics anticipates cellular automata is not my idea. I encountered it seven years ago in a lay person's book review of Sherburne's introduction to Whitehead's metaphysics.

I like the idea. It is intuitively plausible. Whitehead's actual entity is a cell, formulated on the basis of William James's "drops of experience," which, like the agent in an agent-based model, looks to its neighbours for data relevant to its own decisions for concrescence (process of becoming concrete, thereby making itself available as data for future actual entities). One of the main differences between cellular automata and the theory of actual entities is that Whitehead's rules/constraints on the actual entity are many more than the few rules governing, say, John Conway's Game of Life. Whitehead calls these constraints "categories" and he lists them on pp. 20-28 of Process and Reality.

Whitehead's rules are not only more plentiful than those of Conway; they are also subtler and more complex. They have to be, for if his theory is right, the patterns they beget are all the patterns we encounter in experience: from electron to cosmos, from paramecium to human to God, from hunger and anger to contemplation and love:

>In order to discover some of the major categories under which we can classify the infinitely various components of experience, we must appeal to evidence relating to every variety of occasion. Nothing can be omitted, experience drunk and experience sober, experience sleeping and experience waking, experience drowsy and experience wide-awake, experience self-conscious and experience self-forgetful, experience intellectual and experience physical, experience religious and experience sceptical, experience anxious and experience care-free, experience anticipatory and experience retrospective, experience happy and experience grieving, experience dominated by emotion and experience under self-restraint, experience in the light and experience in the dark, experience normal and experience abnormal.

These are some of the varieties of data which Whitehead tries to encompass with his theory of the actual entity.

As far as I know the mathematics informing his metaphysics had nothing to do with cellular automata. Rather, he was concerned with the theory of extension (spatial extension), whi

So the cover of Nier Automata, the one where A2, 9S, and 2B are all together standing on a pod looking robot, just a simple theory but it could well be the aftermath of the Epilogue, whereas they destroyed the pods or something, Not sure but it was something I noticed.

How does it relate to computer science in a general and day to day sense? I don’t understand what it does.

Thank you.

Background:

Currently in 5th sem, (last week going on), and we have this subject called "theory of computation and automate". My exams are starting in Jan.

I need your advice for:

The concepts in themselves are relatively simple as in, if it were an open book test I'd do pretty well. But the amount of stuff for me to cram them in 1 week's time is too much and to top it all off, I get bored easily while studying because I don't even find the subject that engrossing. After scouring on the net for some real-world application of automata I couldn't find much other than their function in compiler design and biology. The biology part, (the game of life and procedural maze generations sections), I enjoyed a lot, but it turns out they aren't even teaching that part.

We have like REs, FAs, CFG, PDAs, and Turing machines. Which all are super boring.

Could you guys give me, real-world, interesting direct applications of PDAs and Turing machines?

I am taking a class on Automata and complexity/computation in college (summer class). I am not saying it isn't useful - I am just frankly getting bored. I actually quite enjoyed the discrete math classes I took in college and did quite well, but without claiming to know much about this: I get the feeling this class is too theoretical to be useful. I am more into bioinformatics and machine learning, but I am jus a college kid so I am open to learn more. However, as a person I can only do well in a class if I enjoy it/see applications. I am sure there must be applications for this, since it is a requirement for my major, but I can't seem to find the motivation to enjoy the class (coupled with a professor who doesn't help gauge interest for sure). Could someone please tell me what made this class fun for you, and how it helped you in the future? Really just trying to motivate myself to do better, sit my ass down and study.

Premise

In Enel's cover story we are introduced to Professor Tsukimi and his automata Spacey, Macro, Galaxy and Cosmo. We are told that Tsukimi created the automata – or at least created Spacey – on Karakuri Island, literally "the island of mechanisms" (localized by VIZ as "Mechanical Island").

When we visit Karakuri Island in Franky's timeskip segment (chapters 592 and 596), we learn that the island is Vegapunk's birthplace. We also learn it's a winter island that can only be reached with a large icebreaker; it's always snowing and the people are always suffering from the cold. Because of this, when Vegapunk was young he tried to build a geothermal system for heating the entire island, but couldn't complete it due to lack of funds and resources.

However, the place where Tsukimi lived with his automata – and died – doesn't look that cold. Tsukimi is sitting outside, wearing sandals, and there's bamboo growing nearby. When he dies, cherry blossoms are drifting through the air. It's a very different environment from the harsh everlasting winter of the island Franky was on.

When Oda decided to make Franky's island the same as Tsukimi's, did he overlook the fact that he'd depicted two very different types of environment? Is it a mistake that fell through the cracks? I think it's unlikely because Oda has always crafted the One Piece world with an incredible level of detail. I believe it's possible those automata were indeed created in a laboratory on Karakuri island, like we are told by the cover story, but the place where Tsukimi was admiring the moon with them is a different one. And I believe that place could be Wano.

Why Wano?

First of all, because of the visual clues: the engawa (Japanese veranda), the bamboo, the cherry blossoms and the ukiyoe-sque clouds in Tsukimi's cover story all belong to the Japanese Edo-period imagery Wano is based on. There's no trace of any of those elements in the Karakuri Island of Franky's timeskip chapters, while they can all be found in Wano (like here and here). Also, the activity of "moon viewing", from which Tsukimi gets his name, is typical of Japanese culture.

Second, because the name karakuri is

I am wondering if anyone here has any info based on either taking the class or hearing from other people who took the class specifically with either Serdar Erbatur or James Willson. I am stuck between the 2 because I can’t really find any info on their CS 4384 class. Thanks.

Third year undergraduate student here and I was just curious about why the study of Automata theory was even needed in the first place? Why is it useful to learn about what a computer can and can't do?

Hi there,

Looking for help with Computation Theory and Automata test this Friday from 5-7 EST. It is a computer science course based on discreet math. It is a two hour test. Will require knowledge on the below.

Sets, Sequences, Function and Relations, Alphabets strings and Languages, finite automata and Non-determinism.

Willing to pay well for a knowledgeable person on the subject. Since its a online test, 2 hour commitment is required. Thank you.