Duration
26h Th, 26h Pr
Number of credits
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
English language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
Introduction to the concept of effective procedure. Countable and uncountable sets. Finite automata and pushdown automata. Formal grammars and their relation to automata. Turing machines and the Church-Turing thesis. Theory of recursive functions. Problems unsolvable by an effective procedure. Introduction to NP-completeness and complexity theory.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
At the end of this course, the student will have a good knowledge of the theory pertaining to the limits of computer systems and will understand their meaning.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Knowledge of programming
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
1st quadrimester - Lectures, problem sessions.
The lectures and problem sessions are given in English. The reference book is written in French, but similar textbooks written in English are available.
The problem sessions are aimed at gaining familiarity with the concepts introduced in the lectures.
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)
Face-to-face.
Recommended or required readings
Recommended reference covering precisely the material taught in the course:
P. Wolper, Introduction à la calculabilité (3ième édition), Dunod, 2006.
Reference in English:
Michael Sipser, Introduction to the Theory of Computation, CENGAGE Learning Custom Publishing, 2012
Assessment methods and criteria
Written exam including both theory and exercise questions (no oral exam).
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
Additional information can be found on the course web page: http://www.montefiore.ulg.ac.be/~pw/cours/calc.html
Contacts
Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the May-June 2020 session
Teaching methods implemented : distance-learning
Assessment subjects
Assessment methods
Contacts
Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the Aug-Sept 2020 session
Assessment subjects
Same as January.
The theory questions are of the same flavour but can be slightly different from the list.
There is one theory question and two exercises at the exam.
Assessment methods
Written exam.
The questions are sent by e-mail via myULiège. The student has two hours to solve the questions, scan their answers and send them by e-mail to the professor.
Contacts
q.louveaux@uliege.be
04/366 27 89