Descriptional Complexity of Formal Systems

Descriptional Complexity of Formal Systems
Abbreviation	DCFS
Discipline	Automata theory and formal languages
Publication details
Publisher	Electronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science (International)
History	1999–
Frequency	annual

DCFS, the International Workshop on Descriptional Complexity of Formal Systems is an is an annual academic conference in the field of computer science.

Starting with the 2009 edition, the proceedings of the workshop appear in the series Electronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science, an open access series. Already since the very beginning, extended versions of selected papers are published as special issues of the International Journal of Foundations of Computer Science, the Journal of Automata, Languages and Combinatorics, and of Theoretical Computer Science. In 2002 DCFS was the result of the merger of the workshops DCAGRS (Descriptional Complexity of Automata, Grammars and Related Structures) and FDSR (Formal Descriptions and Software Reliability). The workshop is often collocated with international conferences in related fields, such as ICALP, DLT and CIAA.

Topics of the workshop

Typical topics include:

• various measures of descriptional complexity of automata, grammars, languages and of related systems
• trade-offs between descriptional complexity and mode of operation
• circuit complexity of Boolean functions and related measures
• succinctness of description of (finite) objects
• descriptional complexity in resource-bounded or structure-bounded environments
• structural complexity
• descriptional complexity of formal systems for applications (e.g. software reliability, software and hardware testing, modelling of natural languages)
• descriptional complexity aspects of nature-motivated (bio-inspired) architectures and unconventional models of computing
• Kolmogorov–Chaitin complexity and descriptional complexity

As such, the topics of the conference overlap with those of the International Federation for Information Processing Working Group 1.2 on descriptional complexity.

Significance

In a survey on descriptional complexity, Holzer & Kutrib (2010) state that "since more than a decade the Workshop on 'Descriptional Complexity of Formal Systems' (DCFS), [...] has contributed substantially to the development of [its] field of research." In a talk on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the workshop, Dassow (2009) gave an overview about trends and directions in research papers presented at DCFS.

History of the workshop

• 14th DCFS 2012 will take place in Braga, Portugal
• 13th DCFS 2011 in Giessen, Germany
• 12th DCFS 2010 in Saskatoon (Saskatchewan), Canada

Special Issue: International Journal of Foundations of Computer Science, announced (as of August 2010)

• 11th DCFS 2009 in Magdeburg, Germany

Special Issue: Journal of Automata, Languages and Combinatorics, announced (as of January 2009)

• 10th DCFS 2008 in Charlottetown, Canada

Special Issue: Theoretical Computer Science 410(35), 2009.

• 9th DCFS 2007 in High Tatras, Slovakia

Special Issue: International Journal of Foundations of Computer Science 19(4), 2008.

• 8th DCFS 2006 in Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA

Special Issue: Theoretical Computer Science 387(2), 2007

• 7th DCFS 2005 in Como, Italy

Special Issue: Journal of Automata, Languages and Combinatorics 12(1/2), 2007

• 6th DCFS 2004 London (Ontario), Canada

Special Issue: International Journal of Foundations of Computer Science 16(5), 2005

• 5th DCFS 2003 in Budapest, Hungary

Special Issue: Theoretical Computer Science 330(2), 2005

• 4th DCFS 2002 in London (Ontario), Canada

Special Issue: Journal of Automata, Languages and Combinatorics 9(2/3), 2004

DCAGRS (predecessor of DCFS)

• 3rd DCAGRS 2001 in Vienna

Special Issue: Journal of Automata, Languages and Combinatorics 7(4), 2002

• 2nd DCAGRS 2000 in London (Ontario), Canada.

Special Issue: Journal of Automata, Languages and Combinatorics 6(4), 2001

• 1st DCAGRS 1999 in Magdeburg, Germany.

Special Issue: Journal of Automata, Languages and Combinatorics 5(3), 2000

FSDR (other predecessor of DCFS)

• 3rd FSDR 2000 San Jose (California), USA
• 2nd FSDR 1999 Boca Raton (Florida), USA
• 1st FSDR 1998 Paderborn, Germany

See also

• The list of computer science conferences contains other academic conferences in computer science.

References

• Bianca Truthe: "Report on DCFS 2008." Bulletin of the EATCS 96:160-161, October 2008. Online edition accessed Feb 9, 2009.
• Jürgen Dassow: "10 Years DCFS." Talk held at the 11th DCFS in Magdeburg, Germany, July 6–9, 2009.
• Ian McQuillan: "Report on DCFS 2009." Bulletin of the EATCS 99:185-187, October 2009. Online edition accessed Nov 24, 2009.
• Electronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science, official website.
• Holzer, Markus; Kutrib, Martin (2010), "Descriptional Complexity — An Introductory Survey", in Martín-Vide, Carlos, Scientific Applications of Language Methods, Mathematics, Computing, Language, and Life: Frontiers in Mathematical Linguistics and Language Theory, 2, Imperial College Press, pp. 1–58, ISBN 978-1-84816-544-1, http://www.worldscibooks.com/etextbook/p707/p707_chap01.pdf, retrieved March 16, 2011 

• McQuillan, Ian; Pighizzini, Giovanni (2010), Preface, in McQuillan, Ian; Pighizzini, Giovanni, , Electronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science, Electronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science 31, arXiv:1008.1270, doi:10.4204/EPTCS.31