A state machine and how it models what browsers do?
Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 4:13 pmThe other day I heard someone talk about a state machine and how it models what browsers do? Can you explain?
progr wrote:The other day I heard someone talk about a state machine and how it models what browsers do? Can you explain?
The term "state machine" comes from a field of computer science and methematics called "finite state machine theory" or "automata theory". An abstract automata is a state machine when it has "memory," that is, when its current behavior depends on its past behavior.
If an abstract machine like that does NOT depend on what was in the past for the output it currently produces then it is a stateless machine or memoryless machine.
Computer programs that store data can be modeled with state machines. At least in theory. So, in theory, a browser (being a computer program) can be modeled as a state machine. But the real purpose of this mathematical abstraction is to understand how programs (like browsers) behave in theory, not necessarily in practical terms.
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