(summary via gpt4/editing)

Discusses the fundamental role of state machines in computer science.

In computer science, there's an excessive focus on languages, often obscuring the fact that languages all describe state machines.

The document intends to demonstrate how state machines express computation and clarify the concepts underpinning the various languages used to describe computations. It then delves into state machines' function within the sphere of 'correctness' in computer science, drawing on works related to Abstract State Machines by Yuri Gurevich and others.