Finitte

Finitte is a neologism used in discussions of computation and formal systems to denote a class of processes and structures that are guaranteed to terminate after a finite amount of steps and to operate within bounded resources. The term is not established in major literature and is encountered mostly in online writings and some theoretical treatment in workshops.

Definition: A process satisfies the finitte condition if every valid execution terminates in a finite number of steps for all inputs, and the resource usage—time and memory—remains bounded by a finite function of the input size. Proponents often require that the state space be finite or effectively finite, and that for any input the maximum derivation length is bounded.

Relation to related concepts: Finitte overlaps with ideas in termination, strong normalization, and resource-bounded computation. It emphasizes termination guarantees along with bounded growth, whereas the term finite automata focuses primarily on a finite set of states rather than explicit step bounds. Some authors use finitte to discuss systems that are not strictly finite-state but still provably terminating with a known resource bound.

Examples: Examples include rewrite systems proven to be terminating via a well-founded order, certain forms of typed lambda calculus with normalization proofs, or embedded controllers designed with hard worst-case execution time.

Usage and reception: As a non-standard term, finitte lacks formal consensus. Some researchers advise explicit definition whenever used, to avoid ambiguity. It is more common in expository or speculative contexts than in formal publications.

Related topics include termination, strong normalization, and resource-bounded computation.