Generation of regular expressions for automata by the integral of regular expressions
L. Wheaton Smith · The Computer Journal · 1972
In this paper, the integral of regular expressions is defined and its properties are presented— The concept of the integral is then applied to establishing an algorithm for generating the regular expression of an arbitrary finite automaton specified by its state diagram or flow table. The regular expression for a given automaton obtained by this algorithm is shown to be unique up to the commutative property of the sum. This algorithm is effective and suitable for machine implementation. Programmed results of this algorithm are also given and interpreted. (Received August 1971)