Rating: 
Summary: This book is not useful in the understanding of Automata.
Review: I had to purchase this book for a required class in Computer Science. I don't understand how a book that has soo many bad reviews could be required for a class. I checked some of my answers with the Instructor's solution manual and even the manual was useless. For example, the answer for section 3.2 #1 says "Routine application of a given contruction". NOW, DOES THIS ANSWER HELP YOU? Don't think that this is the only answer like this, most of the answers in the manual are similar. No one even knows who the author's audience is... I think people who buy this book is because it's a requirement. I think that every University that requires this book should think it over.
Rating:
Summary: Simply godawful
Review: I had to purchase this for my school's Intro to CS Theory course.Linz' utter ineptitude towards writing is what gives this book 1 star. Examples throughout chapters are sparse and relatively worthless. Sample problems at the end of the chapter, in contrast, are ridiculously difficult, and the solutions in the back don't offer any explanation whatsoever towards the answers. This is the only book I have ever read that actually made me feel dumber for reading it. It's simply demeaning. Rather than explaining or justifying his logic, as he should to the target audience of this book, he simply uses "it's obvious that..." repeatedly for sample problems and solutions. A ridiculously complex problem's solution in the back of the book will be whittled down to two lines at best, half of which says something along the line of "It's blatantly obvious that the answer is ___, and you're stupid for not realizing it." If you're actually assigned graded work from this book, may god have mercy on your soul.
Rating: 
Summary: A very good book
Review: I have used this book for a course about automata and formal languages. I think the text is very good and can be easily understood. The exercises require some study and time, but i think it's good to let the student work. After all, by just reading something you've forgotten most of it after a few months. The proofs are not hard to understand, you should just grab a piece of paper and try to follow them. If some people seem to think you can explain some of the subjects without proving a number of thing, i feel they are just plainly wrong. If you don't want to you don't have to read the proofs, but i'd advise you to do so anyway. I think the book was just right for me, for the course i was given. So never mind what some seem to think, just read it. It was of great help when i took a compilers course.
Rating:
Summary: It's a sleeper
Review: I haven't found any reason for someone to buy this book. The writing sytle is dry. The examples are complex and poorly explained. The concepts are covered adequately, but often with a wordiness that leaves the reader bewildered (if still awake). As an "Introduction" manual, this text fails miserably. I'd have given it zero stars, if possible. It just does not do anything well, and does too many things poorly. There's too many well written texts in the world to waste time with this one.
Rating:
Summary: Read my message before you buy
Review: I regret that I bought this book for my class. The book is required yet it doesn't really help me understanding automata. Even my professor tells me not to read certain sections. I guess he thinks the rest of the sections are okay to read. I have a test coming up next week and I can't believe I find myself searching for another textbook or study guide to help me understanding automata. If I knew this book doesn't fit me, even if it's required, I wouldn't have bought it. Because class is basically based on notes, not the textbook. I think if I find a book that can feeds my curiosity as a student, then I'll be happy. Hopefully I find THE BOOK before it's too late. What a book! Sorry author, you did a great job, but my level is not there yet!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Not for an independent learner
Review: I think the book is ok for people who have access to a live instructor, or for those who already know the subject and want a review. The lack of problems with answers makes learning from the book difficult. Many of the exercises are pretty useless/worthless. More explanation in English of what is going on would also help the beginner.
Rating: 
Summary: Author goes light on formalism to convey heavy ideas.
Review: In this text, Linz takes on one of the more abstract
concepts of computer science, that being the study of
formal languages and automata. Linz does a good job of
making this potentially dry topic accessible by introducing
the least amount of formalism necessary to further the
subject at hand. Math purists will bristle at his 'outlines'
of proofs, but students who are interested more in getting
the concepts will appreciate the light style. Linz leaves
a lot as 'an exercize for the reader', and the lack of
answers for even a subset of the given problems is a
problem. This is, however, made up for with extensive
examples worked in detail.
Rating:
Summary: Expensive Paperweight
Review: Like many reviewers, I too had to buy this book for a cs class. It is one of the most worthless books I've ever owned. The treatment of the material was flimsy at best. A math textbook usually is replete with many examples, but this one leaves most of the examples as homework exercises. Most of the examples are easy, but the homework exercises are cryptic and difficult. It would have been helpful to include some difficult problems in the examples as well. Unless you have a very good instructor to give adequate examples, I would stay away from this book or look for supplemental material.
Rating:
Summary: This is the most cryptic computer book I ever read.
Review: Like most people on this review board, I too had to suffer through this book because of the class "Introduction to Theory of Computing" I had to take to complete my computer science degree. First of all, the cover doesn't have any picture at all, it's hard cover, colorless, generally this kind of books are full of incomprehensible complexities, avoid at all cost if you are a self-learner (unless you are a real nerd theorist and extremely good at mathematics). Onto the book itself, most of the examples assume you to know everything before hand, take one example : Prove "There does not exist any Turing machine H that behaves as required by Definition 12.1. The halting problem is therefore undecidable." This guy went all the way of constructing various Turing machines on top of each other **without** telling you why he did that and he further applied various "creative" inputs, to the various machines **without** telling you how that worked and he derived a contradiction **so what's the point ?** Looks more like a non-sense fairy tale than a complete satisfying mathematical proof. Some people may argue that you should know the process before hand, and fully understand the chapters preceding the proof, well, sorry, the preceding chapters are bad as well. Not to mention the exorbitant price. If you are not a nerd in math and logic puzzle, this book is not for you, period.
Rating:
Summary: for the brainy one
Review: Lot of review didn't like this book simply because it was "confusing", well this subject is inherently confused. I had to use this book for one of my course, and to my opinion is it a good book, it does a good job of explaining the concept, providing enough proof but not to the point that it bogged down the reader. If you put some effort in and actually think about all the concept/algorithm, you will like it much better, to those that couldn't understand this book, get a new major, i don't think your brain is fit for CS or any engineering major, may i suggest liberal art? or some type of social sci?
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