Description
Normal algorithms are verbal, that is, intended to be applied to strings in different alphabets. The definition of any normal algorithm consists of two parts: the definition of the ''alphabet'' of the algorithm (the algorithm will be applied to strings of these alphabet symbols), and the definition of its ''scheme''. The scheme of a normal algorithm is a finite ordered set of so-called ''substitution formulas'', each of which can be ''simple'' or ''final''. Simple substitution formulas are represented by strings of the form , where and are two arbitrary strings in the alphabet of the algorithm (called, respectively, the left and right sides of the formula substitution). Similarly, final substitution formulas are represented by strings of the form , where and are two arbitrary strings in the alphabet of the algorithm. This assumes that the auxiliary characters and do not belong to the alphabet of the algorithm (otherwise two other characters to perform their role as the dividers of the left and right sides, which are not in the algorithm's alphabet, should be selected). Here is an example of a normal algorithm scheme in the five-letter alphabet : : The process of applying the normal algorithm to an arbitrary string in the alphabet of this algorithm is a discrete sequence of elementary steps, consisting of the following. Let’s assume that is the word obtained in the previous step of the algorithm (or the original word , if the current step is the first). If of the substitution formulas there is no left-hand side which is included in the , then the algorithm terminates, and the result of its work is considered to be the string . Otherwise, the first of the substitution formulae whose left sides are included in is selected. If the substitution formula is of the form , then out of all of possible representations of the string of the form (where and are arbitrary strings) the one with the shortest is chosen. Then the algorithm terminates and the result of its work is considered to be . However, if this substitution formula is of the form , then out of all of the possible representations of the string of the form of the one with the shortest is chosen, after which the string is considered to be the result of the current step, subject to further processing in the next step. For example, the process of applying the algorithm described above to the word results in the sequence of words , , , , , , , , , and , after which the algorithm stops with the result . For other examples, see below. Any normal algorithm is equivalent to someAlgorithm
The ''Rules'' are a sequence of pairs of strings, usually presented in the form of ''pattern'' → ''replacement''. Each rule may be either ordinary or terminating. Given an ''input'' string: #Check the Rules in order from top to bottom to see whether any of the ''patterns'' can be found in the ''input'' string. #If none is found, the algorithm stops. #If one (or more) is found, use the first of them to replace the leftmost occurrence of matched text in the ''input'' string with its ''replacement''. #If the rule just applied was a terminating one, the algorithm stops. #Go to step 1. Note that after each rule application the search starts over from the first rule.Example
The following example shows the basic operation of a Markov algorithm.Rules
#"A" -> "apple" #"B" -> "bag" #"S" -> "shop" #"T" -> "the" #"the shop" -> "my brother" #"a never used" -> ."terminating rule"Symbol string
"I bought a B of As from T S."Execution
If the algorithm is applied to the above example, the Symbol string will change in the following manner. #"I bought a B of As from T S." #"I bought a B of apples from T S." #"I bought a bag of apples from T S." #"I bought a bag of apples from T shop." #"I bought a bag of apples from the shop." #"I bought a bag of apples from my brother." The algorithm will then terminate.Another example
These rules give a more interesting example. They rewrite binary numbers to their unary counterparts. For example, 101 will be rewritten to a string of 5 consecutive bars.Rules
#", 0" -> "0, , " #"1" -> "0, " #"0" -> ""Symbol string
"101"Execution
If the algorithm is applied to the above example, it will terminate after the following steps. #"101" #"0, 01" #"00, , 1" #"00, , 0, " #"00, 0, , , " #"000, , , , , " #"00, , , , , " #"0, , , , , " #", , , , , "See also
* Thue (programming language) *References
* Caracciolo di Forino, A. ''String processing languages and generalized Markov algorithms.'' In Symbol manipulation languages and techniques, D. G. Bobrow (Ed.), North-Holland Publ. Co., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1968, pp. 191–206. * Andrey Andreevich Markov (1903-1979) 1960. ''The Theory of Algorithms.'' American Mathematical Society Translations, series 2, 15, 1-14. (Translation from the Russian, Trudy Instituta im. Steklova 38 (1951) 176-189{{Cite journal , last=Kushner , first=Boris A. , date=1999-05-28 , title=Markov's constructive analysis; a participant's view , url=https://core.ac.uk/works/41825477 , journal=Theoretical Computer Science , language=en , volume=219 , issue=1-2 , pages=268, 284 , doi=10.1016/S0304-3975(98)00291-6)External links