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Construct CFG that generates the language L = (w є (a,b) : length (w) ≥ 2 and second letter of w from right is a)

The document discusses several topics related to context-free grammars (CFGs) including: 1) Constructing a CFG to generate strings where the second to last letter is 'a'. 2) Converting infix arithmetic expressions to prefix notation by traversing the parse tree left-to-right. 3) An example of calculating the value of a prefix expression by replacing operator-operand pairs. 4) The concept of ambiguity in CFGs where a string can have multiple parse trees.

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Ahsan
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231 views

Construct CFG that generates the language L = (w є (a,b) : length (w) ≥ 2 and second letter of w from right is a)

The document discusses several topics related to context-free grammars (CFGs) including: 1) Constructing a CFG to generate strings where the second to last letter is 'a'. 2) Converting infix arithmetic expressions to prefix notation by traversing the parse tree left-to-right. 3) An example of calculating the value of a prefix expression by replacing operator-operand pairs. 4) The concept of ambiguity in CFGs where a string can have multiple parse trees.

Uploaded by

Ahsan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Task

Construct CFG that generates the


language
L = {w є {a,b}*: length(w) ≥ 2 and second
letter of w from right is a}
Solution of the task
Construct CFG that generates the language L =
{w є {a,b}*: length(w) ≥ 2 and second letter of
w from right is a}
It can be observed that the language L can be
expressed by (a+b)*(aa+ab). Here the
nonterminal S should be replaced the
nonterminals X or Y where X should generate
the strings corresponding to (a+b)* and Y
should generate the strings corresponding to
(aa+ab). Thus the required CFG may be
(1) S → XY (2) X → aX|bX|Ʌ (3) Y→ aa|ab
Task
Construct the CFG for the language of
strings, defined over Σ={a,b}, beginning and
ending in same letters.
Solution:
It may be noted that the above language
contains the strings a and b as well. So
while constructing the required CFG the
strings a and b must be generated. Thus
the required CFG may be
S → aXa|bXb|a|b
X → aX|bX|Ʌ
Example
Consider the following CFG
S → S+S|S*S|number
where S and number are non-terminals
and the operators behave like terminals.
The above CFG creates ambiguity as the
expression 3+4*5 has two possibilities
(3+4)*5=35 and 3+(4*5)=23 which can be
expressed by the following production
trees
Example continued …

S S

(i) S + S (ii) S S
*

3 S * S S + S 5

4 5 3 4
Example continued …
The expressions can be calculated starting
from bottom to the top, replacing each
nonterminal by the result of calculation
e.g.
S S

(i)=> 3 + S => 3 + 20 =>23

4 * 5
Example continued …
Similarly
S S

(ii) => S * 5 => 7 * 5 =>35

3 + 4
The ambiguity that has been observed in this
example can be removed with a change in
the CFG as discussed in the following
example
Example
S → (S+S)|(S*S)|number
where S and number are nonterminals,
while (, *, +, ) and the numbers are
terminals.
Here it can be observed that
1. S => (S+S)
=> (S+(S*S))
=> (3+(4*5)) = 23
2. S => (S*S)
=> ((S+S)*S)
=> ((3+4)*5) = 35
Polish Notation (o-o-o)
There is another notation for arithmetic
expressions for the CFG
S→S+S|S*S|number. Consider the
following derivation trees
S S

(i) S + S (ii) S S
*

3 S * S S + S 5

4 5 3 4
Polish Notation (o-o-o)
The arithmetic expressions shown by the
trees (i) and (ii) can be calculated from the
following trees, respectively
S S

+ *

(i) 3 * (ii) + 5

5 3 4
4
Here most of the S’s are eliminated.
Polish notation continued …
The branches are connected directly with the
operators. Moreover, the operators + and * are
no longer terminals as these are to be replaced
by numbers (results).
To write the arithmetic expression, it is required
to traverse from the left side of S and going
onward around the tree. The arithmetic
expressions will be as under
(i) + 3 * 4 5 (ii) * +3 4 5
The above notation is called operator prefix
notation.
Polish notation continued …
To evaluate the strings of characters, the first
substring (from the left) of the form
operator-operand-operand (o-o-o) is found
and is replaced by its calculation e.g.
(i) +3*4 5 = +3 20 = 23
(ii) *+3 4 5 = * 7 5 = 35
It may be noted that 4*5+3 is an infix
arithmetic expression, while an arithmetic in
(o-o-o) form is a prefix arithmetic expression.
Consider another example as follows
Example
To calculate the arithmetic expression of
the following tree
S

*
+ 6

* 5

+ +

1 23 4
Example continued …
it can be written as
*+*+1 2+3 4 5 6
The above arithmetic expression in (o-
o-o) form can be calculated as
*+*+1 2+3 4 5 6 = *+*3+3 4 5 6
= *+*3 7 5 6 = *+21 5 6 = *26 6 = 156.
Following is a note
Note
The previous prefix arithmetic expression can
be converted into the following infix arithmetic
expression as
*+*+1 2+3 4 5 6
= *+*+1 2 (3+4) 5 6
= *+*(1+2) (3+4) 5 6
= *(((1+2)*(3+4)) + 5) 6
= (((1+2)*(3+4)) + 5)*6
Task
Convert the following infix expressions
into the corresponding prefix
expressions. Calculate the values of the
expressions as well
1. 2*(3+4)*5
2. ((4+5)*6)+4
Ambiguous CFG
The CFG is said to be ambiguous if there
exists atleast one word of it’s language
that can be generated by the different
production trees.
Example: Consider the following CFG
S→aS|Sa|a
The word aaa can be generated by the
following three different trees
Example continued …
S S S

a S a S S a

a S S a S a

a a a
Thus the above CFG is ambiguous, while the
CFG S→aS|a is not ambiguous as neither the
word aaa nor any other word can be derived
from more than one production trees. The
derivation tree for aaa is as follows
Summing UP
• Jo Kuch Bhi Parha

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