This highly anticipated revision builds upon the strengths of the previous edition. Sipser's candid, crystal-clear style allows students at every level to understand and enjoy this field. His innovative "proof idea" sections explain profound concepts in plain English. The new edition incorporates many improvements students and professors have suggested over the years, and offers updated, classroom-tested problem sets at the end of each chapter.
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"For the market this text addresses, Introduction to the Theory of Computation, Second Edition is an outstanding text without peer." - Christopher Wilson, University of Oregon
"This is a model for readability, with a sensitivity for what students find difficult."
"This is a model for readability, with a sensitivity for what students find difficult."
About the Author
Michael Sipser has taught theoretical computer science and mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the past 32 years. He is a Professor of Applied Mathematics, a member of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), and the current head of the mathematics department. He enjoys teaching and pondering the many mysteries of complexity theory.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As a teacher of the subject, I have had the chance to evaluate numerous books on the theory of computation. Of all the available texts, I think this one is the most appropriate for CS students. In the past I taught out of Dexter Kozen's book, which is incredibly elegant, but had some resistance from the students. Thinking it over I decided that Kozen's text, although beautiful, may be better suited to students pursuing a degree in pure math. Sipser's book, on the other hand, is more gentle. I find that Sipser demands far less mathematical maturity from his readers, and thus allows the difficulty to be shifted from excessive formalism to the inherent challenges present in the material. In addition, following Sipser's treatment, I was able to cover finite state machines and pushdown automata in far less time, thus allowing me to concentrate on computability and beyond. The book really shines in its treatment of computability theory, eloquently directing attention to some of the most beautiful aspects.
Another benefit of Sipser's book is the exercises, of which there are many more in this edition. Someone studying on their own should find the initial group of exercises in each section quite approachable. Even the more challenging problems are not incredibly hard, and typically draw their difficulty from the deeper themes of the chapter instead of obscure details.
If you are looking for an enjoyable, well-paced book with an introduction to computability and complexity that is truly inspiring, this is the one for you. A mathematician looking for a bit more rigor may do better with Kozen.
Another benefit of Sipser's book is the exercises, of which there are many more in this edition. Someone studying on their own should find the initial group of exercises in each section quite approachable. Even the more challenging problems are not incredibly hard, and typically draw their difficulty from the deeper themes of the chapter instead of obscure details.
If you are looking for an enjoyable, well-paced book with an introduction to computability and complexity that is truly inspiring, this is the one for you. A mathematician looking for a bit more rigor may do better with Kozen.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a wonderful little gem of a book that presents the theory of computation in a fascinating way. It is targeted at advanced undergraduates in computer science, but assumes remarkably little prior knowledge, making it accessible to nearly anyone. The book covers a lot of ground, including the standard fare of automata, computability, and complexity results, plus some bonus material such as probablistic and parallel complexity, information theory, decidable logical theories, and other topics that are normally left out of introductory books. On top of this, the book is remarkably thin!
The best attribute of Sipser's book, though, is the engaging style. This is an easy book to read. You will not feel like you're running into a brick wall, as is sometimes the case with books on abstract topics. It's not so much that the book is slow or gentle (it's really not) as that it is interesting, engaging, and has a knack for stopping short of getting too caught up in details. A number of small things -- the occasional amusing exercise, the "proof idea" sections, or helpful pictures -- add up to an enjoyable reading experience.
Two cautions are appropriate to students considering this book. First, there are variations between authors in the definitions of various automata (especially PDAs). The differences are trivial, and more a matter of taste than of any real importance; but it could come up if you use Sipser as a supplement to a course that follows a different textbook. Second, the coverage of many topics in Sipser's book is brief and concise, sometimes more than you might like. Some important concepts (for example, pairwise distinguishability of strings) are only mentioned in exercises, not in the main chapter, so at least skim all the exercises even if you don't do them. The sketchy coverage is especially pronounced in advanced topics, so (as always) expect to do some filling in of concepts if you go on into further study of this area.
The best attribute of Sipser's book, though, is the engaging style. This is an easy book to read. You will not feel like you're running into a brick wall, as is sometimes the case with books on abstract topics. It's not so much that the book is slow or gentle (it's really not) as that it is interesting, engaging, and has a knack for stopping short of getting too caught up in details. A number of small things -- the occasional amusing exercise, the "proof idea" sections, or helpful pictures -- add up to an enjoyable reading experience.
Two cautions are appropriate to students considering this book. First, there are variations between authors in the definitions of various automata (especially PDAs). The differences are trivial, and more a matter of taste than of any real importance; but it could come up if you use Sipser as a supplement to a course that follows a different textbook. Second, the coverage of many topics in Sipser's book is brief and concise, sometimes more than you might like. Some important concepts (for example, pairwise distinguishability of strings) are only mentioned in exercises, not in the main chapter, so at least skim all the exercises even if you don't do them. The sketchy coverage is especially pronounced in advanced topics, so (as always) expect to do some filling in of concepts if you go on into further study of this area.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By L. Blunden
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have a long experience with software development, but not much background in computation theory, just fascinating tidbits I have picked up here and there. So, this book for the first time deepens and organizes for me this hightly abstract and difficult topic.
Being a novice, I at first was afraid that the text of the book would be beyond my understanding. It was not. For sure, the proofs are difficult and may appeal to the person with a degree in computer science. But the copious diagrams, figures and tables are wonderful supplements to the understandable text. For the first time I really could grasp the subtleties of the finit automata, non-determinism, regular expressions, pushdown automata and other topics.
Certainly I can recommend this book to the beginner at computation theory, and even to the more advanced student who may want to review the topic.
Being a novice, I at first was afraid that the text of the book would be beyond my understanding. It was not. For sure, the proofs are difficult and may appeal to the person with a degree in computer science. But the copious diagrams, figures and tables are wonderful supplements to the understandable text. For the first time I really could grasp the subtleties of the finit automata, non-determinism, regular expressions, pushdown automata and other topics.
Certainly I can recommend this book to the beginner at computation theory, and even to the more advanced student who may want to review the topic.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not Easy
Computational Theory is not an easy subject, and anyone who says it is is lying to you. That said, this text does a fairly good job of stepping you through from fairly basic logic... Read more
Published 1 month ago by The Yeknod
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Condition
The book is in great condition. Packaged nicely and...uniquely as always. You won't be disappointed. This book is very helpful because the class I'm taking now is super crazy!!! Read more
Published 7 months ago by Aaron
2.0 out of 5 stars
In exact and hand wavy.
Using this book for an intro to computation course. I can't stand the text. The first chapters on DFA's and NFA's through to PDA's are easy enough to understand; it's when you... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Lee M. Jacobs
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not the best book
This book is very hard to read because of the way it is formatted, and it spends a lot of time on proofs, and doesn't provide to many examples. Read more
Published 19 months ago by M. Runyan
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book for beginners
If you have very little experience with the subject matter, this book will be a wonderful starter. It is engaging, easy to read, and starts right off with the basics (what are... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Jeremy
4.0 out of 5 stars
Recommended
In this book, Sipser does a good job at introducing the subject, starting as simple as finite automata and regular languages, working his way through Turing machines,... Read more
Published on April 11, 2011 by Haitham Gad
3.0 out of 5 stars
The concepts are clear, but the applications are lacking
The text is well-written and easy to digest, but the key problem I've been experiencing is that while the author does a great job of telling the reader how a proof is formulated,... Read more
Published on February 19, 2011 by barrelrolled
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good starting point
This book is a very easy read for anyone with some mathematical background. A lot of care is put into making everything as simple as possible. Read more
Published on December 28, 2010 by †
4.0 out of 5 stars
easy to read but lots of typos
The author of this text, 2nd edition, has posted an errata list that is no less than 17 pages long! Lots of correcting to be done. Read more
Published on April 13, 2010 by Robert
5.0 out of 5 stars
Marvelous, clear, crisply written: a great textbook
There is not too much to say about this spectacular textbook that has not been said already by many of the other reviewers. Read more
Published on February 11, 2010 by rbnn
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