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\section*{Coursework 1 (Strand 1)}

This coursework is worth 4\% and is due on 20 October at

16:00. You are asked to implement a regular expression matcher

and submit a document containing the answers for the questions

below. You can do the implementation in any programming

language you like, but you need to submit the source code with

which you answered the questions, otherwise a mark of 0\% will

be awarded. You can submit your answers in a txt-file or pdf.

Code send as code.

\subsubsection*{Disclaimer}

It should be understood that the work you submit represents

your own effort. You have not copied from anyone else. An

exception is the Scala code I showed during the lectures or

uploaded to KEATS, which you can freely use.\bigskip

\subsubsection*{Task}

The task is to implement a regular expression matcher based on

derivatives of regular expressions. The implementation should

be able to deal with the usual (basic) regular expressions

\[

\ZERO,\; \ONE,\; c,\; r_1 + r_2,\; r_1 \cdot r_2,\; r^*

\]

\noindent

but also with the following extended regular expressions:

\begin{center}

\begin{tabular}{ll}

$[c_1 c_2 \ldots c_n]$ & a range of characters\\

$r^+$ & one or more times $r$\\

$r^?$ & optional $r$\\

$r^{\{n,m\}}$ & at least $n$-times $r$ but no more than $m$-times\\

$\sim{}r$ & not-regular expression of $r$\\

\end{tabular}

\end{center}

\noindent In the case of $r^{\{n,m\}}$ you can assume the

convention that $0 \le n \le m$. The meanings of the extended

regular expressions are

\begin{center}

\begin{tabular}{r@{\hspace{2mm}}c@{\hspace{2mm}}l}

$L([c_1 c_2 \ldots c_n])$ & $\dn$ & $\{[c_1], [c_2], \ldots, [c_n]\}$\\ 

$L(r^+)$                  & $\dn$ & $\bigcup_{1\le i}. L(r)^i$\\

$L(r^?)$                  & $\dn$ & $L(r) \cup \{[]\}$\\

$L(r^{\{n,m\}})$           & $\dn$ & $\bigcup_{n\le i \le m}. L(r)^i$\\

$L(\sim{}r)$              & $\dn$ & $\Sigma^* - L(r)$

\end{tabular}

\end{center}

\noindent whereby in the last clause the set $\Sigma^*$ stands

for the set of \emph{all} strings over the alphabet $\Sigma$

(in the implementation the alphabet can be just what is

represented by, say, the type \pcode{Char}). So $\sim{}r$

means `all the strings that $r$ cannot match'. 

Be careful that your implementation of \textit{nullable} and

\textit{der} satisfies for every $r$ the following two

properties (see also Question 2):

\begin{itemize}

\item $\textit{nullable}(r)$ if and only if $[]\in L(r)$

\item $L(der\,c\,r) = Der\,c\,(L(r))$

\end{itemize}

\noindent {\bf Important!} Your implementation should have

explicit cases for the basic regular expressions, but also

explicit cases for the extended regular expressions. That

means do not treat the extended regular expressions by just

translating them into the basic ones. See also Question 2,

where you are asked to explicitly give the rules for

\textit{nullable} and \textit{der} for the extended regular

expressions.

\subsection*{Question 1}

What is your King's email address (you will need it in

Question 3)?

\subsection*{Question 2}

This question does not require any implementation. From the

lectures you have seen the definitions for the functions

\textit{nullable} and \textit{der} for the basic regular

expressions. Give the rules for the extended regular

expressions:

\begin{center}

\begin{tabular}{@ {}l@ {\hspace{2mm}}c@ {\hspace{2mm}}l@ {}}

$\textit{nullable}([c_1 c_2 \ldots c_n])$  & $\dn$ & $?$\\

$\textit{nullable}(r^+)$                   & $\dn$ & $?$\\

$\textit{nullable}(r^?)$                   & $\dn$ & $?$\\

$\textit{nullable}(r^{\{n,m\}})$            & $\dn$ & $?$\\

$\textit{nullable}(\sim{}r)$               & $\dn$ & $?$\medskip\\

$der\, c\, ([c_1 c_2 \ldots c_n])$  & $\dn$ & $?$\\

$der\, c\, (r^+)$                   & $\dn$ & $?$\\

$der\, c\, (r^?)$                   & $\dn$ & $?$\\

$der\, c\, (r^{\{n,m\}})$            & $\dn$ & $?$\\

$der\, c\, (\sim{}r)$               & $\dn$ & $?$\\

\end{tabular}

\end{center}

\noindent

Remember your definitions have to satisfy the two properties

\begin{itemize}

\item $\textit{nullable}(r)$ if and only if $[]\in L(r)$

\item $L(der\,c\,r)) = Der\,c\,(L(r))$

\end{itemize}

\subsection*{Question 3}

Implement the following regular expression for email addresses

\[

([a\mbox{-}z0\mbox{-}9\_\!\_\,.-]^+)\cdot @\cdot ([a\mbox{-}z0\mbox{-}9\,.-]^+)\cdot .\cdot ([a\mbox{-}z\,.]^{\{2,6\}})

\]

\noindent and calculate the derivative according to your email

address. When calculating the derivative, simplify all regular

expressions as much as possible by applying the

following 7 simplification rules:

\begin{center}

\begin{tabular}{l@{\hspace{2mm}}c@{\hspace{2mm}}ll}

$r \cdot \ZERO$ & $\mapsto$ & $\ZERO$\\ 

$\ZERO \cdot r$ & $\mapsto$ & $\ZERO$\\ 

$r \cdot \ONE$ & $\mapsto$ & $r$\\ 

$\ONE \cdot r$ & $\mapsto$ & $r$\\ 

$r + \ZERO$ & $\mapsto$ & $r$\\ 

$\ZERO + r$ & $\mapsto$ & $r$\\ 

$r + r$ & $\mapsto$ & $r$\\ 

\end{tabular}

\end{center}

\noindent Write down your simplified derivative in a readable

notation using parentheses where necessary. That means you

should use the infix notation $+$, $\cdot$, $^*$ and so on,

instead of code.

\subsection*{Question 4}

Suppose \textit{[a-z]} stands for the range regular expression

$[a,b,c,\ldots,z]$.  Consider the regular expression $/ \cdot * \cdot

(\sim{}([a\mbox{-}z]^* \cdot * \cdot / \cdot [a\mbox{-}z]^*)) \cdot *

\cdot /$ and decide wether the following four strings are matched by

this regular expression. Answer yes or no.

\begin{enumerate}

\item \texttt{"/**/"}

\item \texttt{"/*foobar*/"}

\item \texttt{"/*test*/test*/"}

\item \texttt{"/*test/*test*/"}

\end{enumerate}

\noindent

Also test your regular expression matcher with the regular

expression $a^{\{3,5\}}$ and the strings

\begin{enumerate}

\setcounter{enumi}{4}

\item \texttt{aa}

\item \texttt{aaa}

\item \texttt{aaaaa}

\item \texttt{aaaaaa}

\end{enumerate}

\noindent

Does your matcher produce the expected results?

\subsection*{Question 5}

Let $r_1$ be the regular expression $a\cdot a\cdot a$ and $r_2$ be

$(a^{\{19,19\}}) \cdot (a^?)$.  Decide whether the following three

strings consisting of $a$s only can be matched by $(r_1^+)^+$.

Similarly test them with $(r_2^+)^+$. Again answer in all six cases

with yes or no. \medskip

\noindent

These are strings are meant to be entirely made up of $a$s. Be careful

when copy-and-pasting the strings so as to not forgetting any $a$ and

to not introducing any other character.

\begin{enumerate}

\item \texttt{"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\\

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\\

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"}

\item \texttt{"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\\ 

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\\ 

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"}

\item \texttt{"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\\ 

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\\ 

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"}

\end{enumerate}

\end{document}

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