An Outline of the Development of the Theory of Formal languages

Abstract

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to present a crisp and critical survey of the development of the theory of formal languages. It is known that the study of formal languages was initiated in order to give a precise characterization of the structure of natural languages with the goal of defining its syntax using simple and precise mathematical rules. The mathematical theory of formal languages grew with the need of formalizing and describing the process linked with the use of computers and communication devices. In course of time, it has occupied an important place in the core of education of computer scientists and linguists, and more recently, it has found applications as well in soft sciences, such as, biology and economics.