Introduction To Grammar in Theory of Computation

In Theory of Computation, grammar refers to a formal system that defines how strings in a language are constructed. It plays a crucial role in determining the syntactic correctness of languages and forms the foundation for parsing and interpreting programming languages, natural languages, and other formal systems.

This article provides an in-depth exploration of:

• The types of grammars.
• Their components.
• The process of string derivation using grammar rules.

Grammar in Computation

Grammar is a formal system that defines a set of rules for generating valid strings within a language. It serves as a blueprint for constructing syntactically correct sentences or meaningful sequences in a formal language.

Grammar is basically composed of two basic elements:

• Terminal Symbols: Terminal symbols are those that are the components of the sentences generated using grammar and are represented using small case letters like a, b, c, etc.

• Non-Terminal Symbols: Non-terminal symbols are those symbols that take part in the generation of the sentence but are not the component of the sentence. Non-Terminal Symbols are also called Auxiliary Symbols and Variables. These symbols are represented using a capital letters like A, B, C, etc.

Representation of Grammar

Any Grammar can be represented by 4 tuples - <N, T, P, S>

• N - Finite Non-Empty Set of Non-Terminal Symbols.
• T - Finite Set of Terminal Symbols.
• P - Finite Non-Empty Set of Production Rules.
• S - Start Symbol (Symbol from where we start producing our sentences or strings).

Production Rules

A production or production rule in computer science is a rewrite rule specifying a symbol substitution that can be recursively performed to generate new symbol sequences. It is of the form α->  β where  α is a Non-Terminal Symbol which can be replaced by β which is a string of Terminal Symbols or Non-Terminal Symbols.

Example 1

Consider Grammar G1 = <N, T, P, S>

T = {a,b}    #Set of terminal symbols

1 2 3 4 5
P = { A -> Aa, A -> Ab, A -> a ,A -> b, A -> 𝜺}    #Set of all production rules
S = {A}    #Start Symbol

As the start symbol S is equivalent to A then we can produce Aa, Ab, a, b, 𝜺 strings. These strings can further produce strings where A can be replaced by the strings mentioned in the production rules. Hence this grammar can be used to produce strings of the form (a+b)*.

Derivation of Strings

A->a    #using production rule 3
OR
A->Aa    #using production rule 1
Aa->ba    #using production rule 4
OR
A->Aa    #using production rule 1
Aa->AAa    #using production rule 1
AAa->bAa    #using production rule 4
bAa->ba    #using production rule 5

Example 2

Consider Grammar G2 = <N, T, P, S>

N = {A}   #Set of non-terminals Symbols
T = {a}    #Set of terminal symbols

1 2 3 4
P = {A -> Aa, A -> AAa, A -> a, A -> 𝜀}    #Set of all production rules
S = {A}   #Start Symbol

As the start symbol is S then we can produce Aa, AAa, a, which can further produce strings where A can be replaced by the Strings mentioned in the production rules and hence this grammar can be used to produce strings of form (a)*.

Derivation of Strings

A->a    #using production rule 3
OR
A->Aa    #using production rule 1
Aa->aa    #using production rule 3
OR
A->Aa    #using production rule 1
Aa->AAa    #using production rule 1
AAa->Aa    #using production rule 4
Aa->aa    #using production rule 3

Equivalent Grammars

Two grammars are said to be equivalent if they generate the same language. For instance, if Grammar 1 and Grammar 2 both generate strings of the form (𝑎+𝑏)∗, they are considered equivalent.

Types of Grammars

There are several types of Grammar. We classify them on the basis mentioned below.

• Type of Production Rules: The form and complexity of the production rules define the grammar type, such as context-free, context-sensitive, regular, or unrestricted grammars.
  
• Number of Derivation Trees: The number of ways a string can be derived from the grammar. Ambiguous grammars have multiple derivation trees for the same string.
  
• Number of Strings: The size and nature of the language generated by the grammar.