NFA (Nondeterministic Finite Automaton) and DFA (Deterministic Finite Automaton) are both types of finite automata, which are theoretical models of computation used in formal language theory and the design of regular languages. Here are brief explanations of each:
Nondeterministic Finite Automaton (NFA):
- States: NFA has a set of states.
- Transitions: Transitions from one state to another are not uniquely determined by the input symbol. Multiple transitions from a state with the same input symbol are allowed.
- Acceptance: Acceptance occurs if there exists at least one path through the automaton that leads to an accepting state for a given input.
- Flexibility: NFA provides flexibility in representing certain language patterns but requires additional computational complexity to simulate nondeterminism.