DCFS, the International Workshop on Descriptional Complexity of Formal Systems is an annual academic conference in the field of computer science.
Beginning with the 2011 edition, the proceedings of the workshop appear in the series Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Already since the very beginning, extended versions of selected papers are published as special issues of the International Journal of Foundations of Computer Science, the Journal of Automata, Languages and Combinatorics, and of Theoretical Computer Science. In 2002 DCFS was the result of the merger of the workshops DCAGRS (Descriptional Complexity of Automata, Grammars and Related Structures) and FDSR (Formal Descriptions and Software Reliability). The workshop is often collocated with international conferences in related fields, such as ICALP, DLT and CIAA.
Typical topics include:
various measures of descriptional complexity of automata, grammars, languages and of related systems
trade-offs between descriptional complexity and mode of operation
circuit complexity of Boolean functions and related measures
succinctness of description of (finite) objects
descriptional complexity in resource-bounded or structure-bounded environments
structural complexity
descriptional complexity of formal systems for applications (e.g. software reliability, software and hardware testing, modelling of natural languages)
descriptional complexity aspects of nature-motivated (bio-inspired) architectures and unconventional models of computing
Kolmogorov–Chaitin complexity and descriptional complexity
As such, the topics of the conference overlap with those of the International Federation for Information Processing Working Group 1.2 on descriptional complexity.
In a survey on descriptional complexity, Holzer & Kutrib (2010) state that "since more than a decade the Workshop on 'Descriptional Complexity of Formal Systems' (DCFS), [...] has contributed substantially to the development of [its] field of research." In a talk on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the workshop, Dassow (2009) gave an overview about trends and directions in research papers presented at DCFS.
18th DCFS 2015 18th DCFS 2016 in Bucharest, Romania
17th DCFS 2015 in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Proceedings: Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 9118
16th DCFS 2014 in Turku, Finland.
Proceedings: Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 8614
Special issue: Theoretical Computer Science, to appear.
15th DCFS 2013 in London, Ontario, Canada.
Proceedings: Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 8031
14th DCFS 2012 in Braga, Portugal
Proceedings: Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 7386
Special Issue: Journal of Automata, Languages and Combinatorics, to appear.
13th DCFS 2011 in Giessen, Germany
Proceedings: Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 6808
Special issue: Theoretical Computer Science, 449, 2012
12th DCFS 2010 in Saskatoon (Saskatchewan), Canada
Special Issue: International Journal of Foundations of Computer Science, 23(1), 2012.
11th DCFS 2009 in Magdeburg, Germany
Special Issue: Journal of Automata, Languages and Combinatorics, 15(1-2), 2010.
10th DCFS 2008 in Charlottetown, Canada
Special Issue: Theoretical Computer Science 410(35), 2009.
9th DCFS 2007 in High Tatras, Slovakia
Special Issue: International Journal of Foundations of Computer Science 19(4), 2008.
8th DCFS 2006 in Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA
Special Issue: Theoretical Computer Science 387(2), 2007
7th DCFS 2005 in Como, Italy
Special Issue: Journal of Automata, Languages and Combinatorics 12(1/2), 2007
6th DCFS 2004 London (Ontario), Canada
Special Issue: International Journal of Foundations of Computer Science 16(5), 2005
5th DCFS 2003 in Budapest, Hungary
Special Issue: Theoretical Computer Science 330(2), 2005
4th DCFS 2002 in London (Ontario), Canada
Special Issue: Journal of Automata, Languages and Combinatorics 9(2/3), 2004
DCAGRS (predecessor of DCFS)
3rd DCAGRS 2001 in Vienna
Special Issue: Journal of Automata, Languages and Combinatorics 7(4), 2002
2nd DCAGRS 2000 in London (Ontario), Canada.
Special Issue: Journal of Automata, Languages and Combinatorics 6(4), 2001
1st DCAGRS 1999 in Magdeburg, Germany.
Special Issue: Journal of Automata, Languages and Combinatorics 5(3), 2000
FSDR (other predecessor of DCFS)
3rd FSDR 2000 San Jose (California), USA
2nd FSDR 1999 Boca Raton (Florida), USA
1st FSDR 1998 Paderborn, Germany
