Automata and Computability

Models of computation

This intermediate Coursera course explores the theoretical models behind computation, with finite automata, grammars and Turing machines among the central examples. It is less about writing programs and more about what those models can and cannot do, and how that limit shapes algorithm design.

Topics the description names

• Decidable and undecidable problems, and the boundary between them.
• Algorithmic complexity and NP-completeness.
• The Chomsky hierarchy and the class of languages each model accepts.
• Regular expressions and formal logic applied to problem solving.

Who it suits

Students who have met automata in a programming or algorithms course and want the formal theory behind them will get the most from it. Expect the course to reward careful notes, since the ideas build on definitions rather than on code.