finitestatemachine
nounUK /ˈfaɪnaɪt steɪt məˈʃiːn/
US /ˈfaɪnaɪt steɪt məˈʃiːn/
A machine or computer program that can only be in one of a set number of states at a time.
The traffic light works like a finite state machine, switching between red, yellow, and green.
OTHER MEANINGS
2. A model of computation used in computer science to design systems with a limited number of conditions.
Engineers used a finite state machine to control the elevator's movement between floors.
3. A conceptual tool in linguistics for describing grammatical states and transitions.
The parser was built as a finite state machine to recognize simple sentence patterns.
4. A design pattern in software where an object changes behavior based on its current state.
The game character's AI was implemented as a finite state machine with states like idle, chase, and attack.