NIST

pushdown automaton

(definition)

Definition: A restricted Turing machine where the tape acts as a pushdown store (or stack, where only the latest element can be read), with an extra one-way read-only input tape.

Also known as PDA.

See also deterministic pushdown automaton.

Note: From Algorithms and Theory of Computation Handbook, page 24-19, Copyright © 1999 by CRC Press LLC. Appearing in the Dictionary of Computer Science, Engineering and Technology, Copyright © 2000 CRC Press LLC.

Author: CRC-A


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If you have suggestions, corrections, or comments, please get in touch with Paul Black.

Entry modified 17 December 2004.
HTML page formatted Wed Mar 13 12:42:46 2019.

Cite this as:
Algorithms and Theory of Computation Handbook, CRC Press LLC, 1999, "pushdown automaton", in Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures [online], Paul E. Black, ed. 17 December 2004. (accessed TODAY) Available from: https://www.nist.gov/dads/HTML/pushdownautm.html