the.com/state machine
a system that can only ever be doing exactly one thing at a time, on purpose.
means a model where an object moves between a fixed set of states, and transitions between them are triggered by defined events or conditions.
from formalized in the 1940s-50s through automata theory, alongside turing machines and digital circuit design, as a way to reason about sequential logic.
turnstilesclassic teaching example, locked and unlocked states only
traffic lightsred, yellow, green, no fourth option allowed
game dev staplenpc ai almost always runs on one
regex enginessecretly finite state machines wearing a trench coat