A comprehensive reference on the theory of variable-length codes and their relation to automata.

Jean Berstel is Emeritus Professor of Computer Science at the Institut Gaspard-Monge in the University of Marne-la-Vallée, France.

Preface; 1. Preliminaries; 2. Codes; 3. Prefix codes; 4. Automata; 5. Deciphering delay; 6. Bifix codes; 7. Circular codes; 8. Factorizations of free monoids; 9. Unambiguous monoids of relations; 10. Synchronization; 11. Groups of codes; 12. Factorizations of cyclic groups; 13. Densities; 14. Polynomials of finite codes; Solutions of exercises; Appendix: Research problems; References; Index of notation; Index.