I have this question about closure of a context free grammar, and if someone can
ID: 654495 • Letter: I
Question
I have this question about closure of a context free grammar, and if someone can check my answer and see if it makes sense, and if not, what is missing, I would be very grateful.
Give an counter-example to show that the following contruction fails in to proof that class of languages free of context is closed under the operation star. By A a language free of context that it is generated by the GLC G = {V,,R,S}. Add the new rule S -> SS e call the resulting grammar G'. That grammar is expected to generate a*"
I have only a superficial comprehension, I believe it is necessary that Rg', the set of production rules of G' must be equal to Rg united with {Sg'->SgSg'|e} or in another words Rg': Rg U {Sg'->SgSg'|e}. Even if that it is correct I don't understand why {Sg'->SgSg'|e} is necessary
Explanation / Answer
There is a silly problem that you might need to add a production of the form S??, since otherwise you don't necessarily generate ?. But the real problem is that S can be used in the right-hand side of productions, and when you add the rule S?SS, things could break. The "correct" way to turn a grammar of A into a grammar of A? is to add a new start symbol S? and the productions S??S?S|?.
In order to find a counterexample, think of the problems mentioned in the previous paragraphs, and try to find an example which manifests them. All it requires is some experimentation.