What Are Finite State Machines?
A finite state machine is a set of states, one of which is the starting state. Each state has a set of transitions to other states, based on the next input token. A transition has a condition and an action. If the condition is met, the FSM performs the action and then enters the new state. This cycle repeats until reaching the end state. Finite state machines are important in the theory of computation. A Wikipedia article on finite state machines goes into the computer science aspect. FSMs are valuable because it is possible to identify precisely what problems they can and cannot solve. To solve a new class of problems, add features to create related machines. In turn, you can characterize problems by the kind of machine needed to solve it. Eventually you work up to a Turing machine, the most theoretically complete computing device. It is a finite state machine attached to a tape with potentially infinite capacity. The formal and highly abstract computer science approach to FSMs does n
