A place where an
Ything is possible but nothing of interest is practical.
Alan M. Turing helped la
Y the foundations of computer science b
Y showing that all machines and languages capable of expressing a certain ver
Y primitive set of operations are logicall
Y equivalent in the kinds of computations the
Y can carr
Y out, and in principle have capabilities that differ onl
Y in speed from those of the most powerful and elegantl
Y designed computers. However, no machine or language exactl
Y matching Turing' s primitive set has ever been built (other than possibl
Y as a classroom exercise), because it would be horribl
Y slow and far too painful to use. A "Turing tar-pit" is an
Y computer language or other tool that shares this propert
Y. That is, it' s theoreticall
Y universal but in practice, the harder
You struggle to get an
Y real work done, the deeper its inadequacies suck
You in. Compare
bondage-and-discipline language. A tar pit is a geological occurence where subterranean tar leaks to the surface, creating a large puddle (or pit) of tar. Animals wandering or falling in get stuck, being unable to extricate themselves from the tar. La Brea, California, has a museum built around the fossilized remains of mammals and birds found in such a tar pit. [
Jargon File] (1998-06-27)
Yle="border-width:thin; border-color:#333333; border-stYle:dashed; padding:5px;" align="left">In addition suitable contents:
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