Procedure

1. Please go through the theory to understand the formalisms of Deterministic finite automata (DFAs) and Non-Deterministic finite automata (NFAs). Try to differentiate the notion on non-determinism from either determinism or randomness. Further, understand how

2. Once you are well acquainted with the theoretical aspects of how a NFA can be converted to a DFA, you may head to the simulation section of this experiment. Here, you would see a non-deterministic finite automaton, an input string, and some controls on the left (above in the portrait mode) part of your page. On the other side, you would see a deterministic finite automaton that is equivalent to the recently described NFA. Please follow the instructions at the top of the page to help you use the controls. This simulation helps you understand the notion of "string acceptance by a non-deterministic finite automata, deterministic finite automata and equivalence between them". As you have seen before, unlike the case of DFAs, there could exist more than one run for a given input string (due to non-determinism). Some runs could lead to rejection and some runs could lead to acceptance. Even those can be simulated using a DFA through the subset construction described in the theory part of this experiment.

3. We strongly advise you to do the pre- and post-tests to gain more familiarity with the concepts.