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Math and science::Theory of Computation

Context-free languages: closed operations

Context-free language closure

If \( L \) and \( M \) are context-free languages, then the following are also context-free languages:

  • \( L \cup M \)
  • \( L \circ M \)
  • \( L^{\star} \)

In other words, context-free languages are closed under union, concatenation and Kleen star.

There are important operations under which context free languages are not closed. Can you remember them?


Context-free languages are not closed under:

  • intersection
  • complementation
  • set difference

Context

grammar → context-free grammar → context-free language → context-free language closure → Chomsky normal form → pushdown automaton → deterministic pushdown automaton