A program that sequences a series of actions, or handles inputs differently depending on what mode it's in, is often implemented as a finite state machine (FSM). Here, a state is a condition of the system for which there is a prescribed relationship between inputs and outputs, and between inputs and subsequent states. An FSM is an algorithm that maps inputs and states to outputs and new states. The mapping of one state to another is called a state transition.
A state machine for which the outputs are functions of both the current state and the inputs is called a Mealy machine. A state machine for which the outputs are functions of only the current state is called …
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