Introduction to the Theory of Computation
Michael Sipser
18 people recommended it in 8 threads, 2011–2023.
What people on Hacker News said
What I especially liked about the book was how he approached proofs. When introducing a proof, there is first a short "proof idea" paragraph that emphasizes the main approach behind the proof informally. He then gives out the full, formal proof.
"Introduction to the Theory of Computation" by Michael Sipser - introduced me to the theoretical foundations of computer science, and it helped me develop a strong understanding of formal languages, automata, and complexity theory.
Michael Sipser's Introduction to the Theory of Computation. Teaches you formal languages, decidability and complexity theory in a very rigorous way with little prerequisites.
I haven't re-read it in its entirety, but I always enjoy picking up Sipser's "Introduction to the Theory of Computation" and reading through one or another of the chapters and playing with things in my head or on paper.
Introduction to the Theory of Computation by Michael Sipser. Constructing Turing Machines is real fun.
Where it comes up
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