Formal language

set of strings of symbols that may be constrained by rules that are specific to it; words whose letters are taken from an alphabet and are well-formed according to a specific set of rules From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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In mathematics, computer science and linguistics, a formal language is one that has a particular set of symbols, and whose expressions are made according to a particular set of rules. The symbol is often used as a variable for formal languages in logic.[1]

Unlike natural languages, the symbols and formulas in formal languages are syntactically and semantically related to one another in a precise way.[2] As a result, formal languages are completely (or almost completely) void of ambiguity.[3]

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Examples

Some examples of formal languages include:

  • The set of all words over
  • The set , where is a natural number and means repeated times
  • Finite languages, such as
  • The set of syntactically correct programs in a given programming language
  • The set of inputs upon which a certain Turing machine halts
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Specification

A formal language can be specified in a great variety of ways, such as:

References

Further reading

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