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From Regular Expression to NFA 
Thompson’s 
Construction 
Page 2


From Regular Expression to NFA 
Thompson’s 
Construction 
WVUIT Computer Science 
Thompson’s Construction 
? Thompson’s construction is a technique 
for constructing a NFA from a regular 
expression. 
? There are a few simple rules that can be 
combined to produce a NFA from any 
arbitrary regular expression. 
Page 3


From Regular Expression to NFA 
Thompson’s 
Construction 
WVUIT Computer Science 
Thompson’s Construction 
? Thompson’s construction is a technique 
for constructing a NFA from a regular 
expression. 
? There are a few simple rules that can be 
combined to produce a NFA from any 
arbitrary regular expression. 
WVUIT Computer Science 
Thompson’s Construction 
? For e, construct the NFA: 
 
 
 
 
? For a, construct the NFA: 
Page 4


From Regular Expression to NFA 
Thompson’s 
Construction 
WVUIT Computer Science 
Thompson’s Construction 
? Thompson’s construction is a technique 
for constructing a NFA from a regular 
expression. 
? There are a few simple rules that can be 
combined to produce a NFA from any 
arbitrary regular expression. 
WVUIT Computer Science 
Thompson’s Construction 
? For e, construct the NFA: 
 
 
 
 
? For a, construct the NFA: 
WVUIT Computer Science 
Thompson’s Construction 
? Suppose N(s) and N(t) are NFAs for regular 
expressions s and t, respectively. For the regular 
expression s | t, construct the NFA:  
 
Page 5


From Regular Expression to NFA 
Thompson’s 
Construction 
WVUIT Computer Science 
Thompson’s Construction 
? Thompson’s construction is a technique 
for constructing a NFA from a regular 
expression. 
? There are a few simple rules that can be 
combined to produce a NFA from any 
arbitrary regular expression. 
WVUIT Computer Science 
Thompson’s Construction 
? For e, construct the NFA: 
 
 
 
 
? For a, construct the NFA: 
WVUIT Computer Science 
Thompson’s Construction 
? Suppose N(s) and N(t) are NFAs for regular 
expressions s and t, respectively. For the regular 
expression s | t, construct the NFA:  
 
WVUIT Computer Science 
Thompson’s Construction 
? Suppose N(s) and N(t) are NFAs for regular 
expressions s and t, respectively. For the regular 
expression st, construct the NFA: 
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FAQs on From Regular Expression to NFA - Thompson’s Construction - Personal Learning

1. What is Thompson's construction?
Ans. Thompson's construction is a method used to convert a regular expression to a non-deterministic finite automaton (NFA). It was developed by Ken Thompson, a computer scientist, and is widely used in the field of formal language theory and compiler design.
2. How does Thompson's construction convert a regular expression to an NFA?
Ans. Thompson's construction involves several steps. Firstly, each character in the regular expression is transformed into a corresponding NFA with a start state, an end state, and transitions labeled with that character. Then, the NFAs for each character are connected together using epsilon transitions. Finally, the resulting NFA is modified to have a single start state and a single end state.
3. What advantages does Thompson's construction offer over other methods of converting regular expressions to NFAs?
Ans. Thompson's construction is known for its simplicity and efficiency. It can handle regular expressions with complex patterns, including nested parentheses and repetition operators. Additionally, it produces compact NFAs with fewer states compared to other methods, resulting in faster pattern matching.
4. Can Thompson's construction handle all types of regular expressions?
Ans. Yes, Thompson's construction can handle all types of regular expressions. It is a general method that can convert any valid regular expression into an equivalent NFA. The resulting NFA can then be used for various applications, such as lexical analysis and text searching.
5. What is the significance of Thompson's construction in compiler design?
Ans. Thompson's construction plays a crucial role in compiler design, specifically in the lexical analysis phase. Lexical analyzers, also known as scanners, use Thompson's construction to efficiently recognize and tokenize the input source code based on a set of regular expressions defining the language's syntax. This process is essential for subsequent stages of the compiler, such as parsing and semantic analysis.
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