Deterministic Finite Automaton (DFA) and Nondeterministic Finite Automaton (NFA) are two models used in automata theory to represent and process regular languages. The key difference lies in their structure and behavior. A DFA has exactly one transition for each symbol from every state, ensuring a single path to follow for any given input string. In contrast, an NFA allows multiple transitions for a single symbol, including transitions without consuming any input (epsilon transitions). This flexibility enables NFAs to explore multiple paths simultaneously. While NFAs are conceptually easier to construct, both are equally powerful as they recognize the same class of languages, with DFAs offering simpler implementation.
