To understand computation for internet or multimedia. This course offers an introduction to the science behind computing by studying computation abstractly wihtout worrying about specifics of programming languages and/or computing platforms. In particular, wh will study (a) finite automata that capture what can be computed using constant memory, and define the class of regular languages usefyl for pattern matching languages: (b) the universal computational model of Turing machines, and the inherent limis of what can be solved on a computer(undecidability).