An Optimal Construction of Finite Automata from Regular Expressions

We consider the construction of finite automata from their corresponding regular expressions by a series of digraph-transformations along the expression’s structure. Each intermediate graph represents an extended finite automaton accepting the same language. The character of our construction allows a fine-grained analysis of the emerging automaton’s size, eventually leading to an optimality result.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2008
• Where: FSTTCS
• Authors: Stefan Gulan, Henning Fernau
• Keywords: Corresponding Regular Expressions, Extended finite Automaton, FSTTCS 2008, Software Engineering, finite Automata