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Rating: 
Summary: Unsuccessful
Review: Always I can find something worse than typor in the book. Though the author want to introduce some nice topic on the subject, too many errors and confusion make it not enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: Beware the bad binding
Review: I don't think I can include myself in the book's target audience, so I will withhold a review of the content. However, I want to warn potential buyers that the construction of the book may be very poor. Of the 15 or so used copies of the book in the Rutgers University bookstore, almost all had broken bindings. This despite no evidence whatsoever of any abuse (no bent corners, scarred covers, ripped pages, etc.). The binding on the used copy that I purchased also broke after about two weeks of extremely gentle use. If you think (as I do) that an $80 book ought to have as robust a construction as technology allows, you may want to avoid this edition.
Rating:
Summary: Beware the bad binding
Review: I don't think I can include myself in the book's target audience, so I will withhold a review of the content. However, I want to warn potential buyers that the construction of the book may be very poor. Of the 15 or so used copies of the book in the Rutgers University bookstore, almost all had broken bindings. This despite no evidence whatsoever of any abuse (no bent corners, scarred covers, ripped pages, etc.). The binding on the used copy that I purchased also broke after about two weeks of extremely gentle use. If you think (as I do) that an $80 book ought to have as robust a construction as technology allows, you may want to avoid this edition.
Rating:
Summary: If you love formalisms...
Review: This is the assigned text for a graduate class in Foundations of Computation that I'm currently taking. I have thus far struggled through the first five chapters, and feel confident about making the following statement: Unless you *already* have a strong intuitive grasp of the concepts that the book covers AND are very comfortable with mathematical formalisms, you will find this to be a very unrewarding book (as I have). I found it absolutely necessary to supplement my reading with the Sipser book (Introduction to the Theory of Computation), which delivers the essential concepts much more cleanly and powerfully. The problem with the Moret book is that the formalism adds almost nothing, while making the concept so much more difficult to extract. For example, the book certainly defines the mathematical notions of recursive and recursively enumerable sets, but the treatment will (I think) only resonate with those already broadly familiar with Turing decidability and recognizability. Otherwise, the discussion seems terribly abstract and unimportant. I'm not being complete fair, because Moret doesn't leave things completely at the abstract level, but what I'm saying is that when you open this book, you have to already know what you're looking for. So if you already are familiar with issues of decidability and are ready for a more formal development (which may have no practical value whatsoever), you may get something from the book. If you open the book to see what theory of computation is all about, you will probably regret it. If you're getting started, get the Sipser book. -- Big Muggle
Rating:
Summary: If you love formalisms...
Review: This is the assigned text for a graduate class in Foundations of Computation that I'm currently taking. I have thus far struggled through the first five chapters, and feel confident about making the following statement: Unless you *already* have a strong intuitive grasp of the concepts that the book covers AND are very comfortable with mathematical formalisms, you will find this to be a very unrewarding book (as I have). I found it absolutely necessary to supplement my reading with the Sipser book (Introduction to the Theory of Computation), which delivers the essential concepts much more cleanly and powerfully. The problem with the Moret book is that the formalism adds almost nothing, while making the concept so much more difficult to extract. For example, the book certainly defines the mathematical notions of recursive and recursively enumerable sets, but the treatment will (I think) only resonate with those already broadly familiar with Turing decidability and recognizability. Otherwise, the discussion seems terribly abstract and unimportant. I'm not being complete fair, because Moret doesn't leave things completely at the abstract level, but what I'm saying is that when you open this book, you have to already know what you're looking for. So if you already are familiar with issues of decidability and are ready for a more formal development (which may have no practical value whatsoever), you may get something from the book. If you open the book to see what theory of computation is all about, you will probably regret it. If you're getting started, get the Sipser book. -- Big Muggle
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