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Algorithms and Decision Procedures For Context-Free Languages

This document discusses algorithms and decision procedures for context-free languages (CFLs). It describes two approaches for determining if a string is in a CFL: using a context-free grammar or pushdown automaton. It also covers converting grammars to Chomsky normal form and removing epsilon productions. The document outlines algorithms for determining properties of CFLs like emptiness, finiteness, and equivalence. It notes several questions about CFLs that are undecidable in general.

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Raj Sharma
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
294 views

Algorithms and Decision Procedures For Context-Free Languages

This document discusses algorithms and decision procedures for context-free languages (CFLs). It describes two approaches for determining if a string is in a CFL: using a context-free grammar or pushdown automaton. It also covers converting grammars to Chomsky normal form and removing epsilon productions. The document outlines algorithms for determining properties of CFLs like emptiness, finiteness, and equivalence. It notes several questions about CFLs that are undecidable in general.

Uploaded by

Raj Sharma
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Algorithms and Decision

Procedures for
Context-Free Languages

Chapter 14
Decision Procedures for CFLs
Membership: Given a language L and a string w, is w in L?

Two approaches:
● If L is context-free, then there exists some context-free
grammar G that generates it. Try derivations in G and see
whether any of them generates w.

Problem: S  S T | a Try to derive aaa

● IfL is context-free, then there exists some PDA M that


accepts it. Run M on w.

Problem:
Normal Forms for Grammars
Chomsky Normal Form, in which all rules are of one of the
following two forms:
● X  a, where a  , or
● X  BC, where B and C are elements of V - .

Advantages:
● Parsers can use binary trees.
● Exact length of derivations is known:

A B

A A B B

a a b B B

b b
Conversion to Chomsky Normal Form
For any context-free grammar G, there exists a context-free
grammar G’ in Chomsky normal form such that L(G) = L(G) – {}.

Algorithm:

1. Remove all -rules, using the algorithm removeEps. (We have


seen this before.)

2. Remove all unit productions (rules of the form A  B).

3. Remove all rules whose right hand sides have length


greater than 1 and include a terminal:
(e.g., A  aB or A  BaC)

4. Remove all rules whose right hand sides have length


greater than 2:
(e.g., A  BCDE)
Removing -Productions
Definition: a rule is modifiable iff it is of the form:

P  R, for some nullable R, P    

removeEps(G: cfg) =
1. Let G = G.
2. Find the set N of nullable variables in G.
3. For each modifiable rule P  R of G do
Add the rule P  .
4. Delete from G all rules of the form X  .
5. Return G.

L(G) = L(G) – {}


Example
Example: Nullable: A,B,C
S  aACa
AB|a
BC|c S  aACa | aAa | aCa | aa
C  cC |  AB|a
BC|c
C  cC | c
Unit Productions
A unit production is a rule A  B (right-hand side
consists of a single nonterminal symbol)

removeUnits(G)
1. Let G = G.
2. Until no unit productions remain in G do:
2.1 Choose some unit production X  Y.
2.2 Remove it from G.
2.3 Consider only rules that still remain.
For every rule Y  , where   V*, do:
Add to G the rule X   unless it is a rule
that has already been removed once.
3. Return G.
Example
S  aACa | aAa | aCa | aa
AB|a
BC|c
C  cC | c

Remove A  B. Add A  C | c.
Remove B  C. Add B  cC (B  c, already there).
Remove A  C. Add A  cC (A  c, already there).

So removeUnits returns:
S  aACa | aAa | aCa | aa
A  a | c | cC
B  c | cC
C  cC | c
Mixed Rules
removeMixed(G) =
1. Let G = G.
2. Create a new nonterminal Ta for each terminal a in .
3. Modify each rule whose right-hand side has length greater
than 1 and that contains a terminal symbol by substituting
Ta for each occurrence of the terminal a.
4. Add to G, for each Ta, the rule Ta  a.
5. Return G.
Example
S  aACa | aAa | aCa | aa
A  a | c | cC
B  c | cC
C  cC | c

removeMixed returns:

S  TaACTa | TaATa | TaCTa | TaTa


A  a | c | TcC
B  c | TcC
C  TcC | c
Ta  a
Tc  c
Long Rules
removeLong(G) =
1. Let G = G.
2. For each rule r of the form:
A  N1N2N3N4…Nn, n > 2
create new nonterminals M2, M3, … Mn-1.
3. Replace r with the rule A  N1M2.
4. Add the rules:
M2  N2M3,
M3  N3M4,
…
Mn-1  Nn-1Nn.
5. Return G.
Example
S  TaACTa | TaATa | TaCTa | TaTa
A  a | c | TcC
B  c | TcC
C  TcC | c
Ta  a
Tc  c

removeLong returns:
S  TaS1 S  TaS3 S  TaS4 S  TaTa
S1  AS2 S3  ATa S4  CTa
S2  CTa
A  a | c | TcC
B  c | TcC
C  TcC | c
Using a Grammar
decideCFLusingGrammar(L: CFL, w: string) =

1. If given a PDA, build G so that L(G) = L(M).

2. If w =  then if SG is nullable then accept, else reject.

3. If w   then:
3.1 Construct G in Chomsky normal form such that
L(G) = L(G) – {}.

3.2 If G derives w, it does so in 2|w| - 1 steps. Try all


derivations in G of 2|w| - 1 steps. If one of them
derives w, accept. Otherwise reject.
Emptiness
Given a context-free language L, is L = ?

decideCFLempty(G: context-free grammar) =

1. Let G = removeunproductive(G).

2. If S is not present in G then return True


else return False.
Finiteness
Given a context-free language L, is L infinite?

decideCFLinfinite(G: context-free grammar) =

1. Lexicographically enumerate all strings in * of length


greater than k and less than or equal to 2k.

2. If, for any such string w, decideCFL(L, w) returns True


then return True. L is infinite.

3. If, for all such strings w, decideCFL(L, w) returns False


then return False. L is not infinite.

decideCFLempty2(G: context-free grammar)

1. Check for strings of length up to k.


The Undecidable Questions about CFLs
● Is L = *?

● Is the complement of L context-free?

● Is L regular?

● Is L1 = L2?

● Is L1  L2?

● Is L1  L2 = ?

● Is L inherently ambiguous?

● Is G ambiguous?

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