CS420 : Intro to Theory of Computation
UMass Boston, Fall 2026
Tue, 1 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0400
Hi Students,
Welcome to CS420! We are looking forward to the semester.
To ensure a smooth start, please fill out this pre-class survey as soon as you can. This way we can address any concerns as soon as possible.
To access the survey, start by clicking the link and entering your full umb.edu email into the Google sign-in box, e.g.:
(If a sign-in box does not appear, sign out of other accounts first, or open the link in an incognito window.)
Please note that CS220 (discrete math) is a requirement of this course
and we assume that students are familiar with—
See you in the first class!
Last updated: Mon, 5 Oct 2026 10:27:43 -0400
Schedule (subject to change):
CS420-03: 12:30 - 1:45PM, McCormack M02-0116
CS420-02: 2:00 - 3:15PM, Wheatley-Peters W01-0004
Readings: S = Sipser; HMU = Hopcroft, Motwani, Ullmann
# | Date | Topic | Reading | HW out |
1 | 9/8 Tue | Intro to Theory of Computation | S0.2-0.4, HMU1.2-1.4 | |
2 | 9/10 Thu | Using and Proving Logical Statements [slides] | HMU1.2-1.4 | |
9/15 Tue | Add/Drop Ends | |||
3 | 9/15 Tue | Deterministic Finite Automata (DFA) [slides] | S1.1 | |
4 | 9/17 Thu | Computing with DFAs [slides] | HMU2.2 | |
5 | 9/22 Tue | Regular Languages [slides] | S1.1, HMU2.2 | |
6 | 9/24 Thu | Combining DFAs, Closed Ops [slides] | S1.1, HMU2.2 | |
7 | 9/29 Tue | Reg Langs Closed Under Union [slides] | S1.1, HMU2.2 | |
8 | 10/1 Thu | Nondeterminism and NFAs [slides] | S1.2, HMU2.3,2.5 | |
9 | 10/6 Tue | Computing with NFAs [slides] | S1.2, HMU2.3,2.5 | |
10 | 10/8 Thu | NFA -> DFA [slides] | S1.2, HMU2.3 | |
no class | 10/12 Mon | Indigenous Peoples Day | ||
11 | 10/13 Tue | Regular Expressions | S1.3 | |
12 | 10/15 Thu | Proof by Induction | S0.4,1.3, HMU1.4 | |
13 | 10/20 Tue | Non-Regular Languages | S1.4 | |
14 | 10/22 Thu | Context-free Grammars (CFG) | S2.1, HMU5.1 | |
15 | 10/27 Tue | Pushdown Automata (PDA) | S2.2, HMU6.1 | |
no class | 11/11 Wed | Veterans Day | ||
11/19 Thu | P/F/Course Withdraw Deadline | |||
no class | 11/26 Thu | Thanksgiving Recess | ||
12/12 Sat | Study Period | |||
12/14 Mon | Final Exam Period |