Editing Turing tarpit

{{Short description|Intentionally obscure programming language}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
A '''Turing [[tarpit]]''' (or '''Turing tar-pit''') is any [[programming language]] or [[computer interface]] that allows for flexibility in function but is difficult to learn and use because it offers little or no support for common tasks.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://wiki.c2.com/?TuringTarpit |title=Turing Tarpit |website=wiki.c2.com |date=21 November 2014 |access-date=30 April 2023}}</ref> The phrase was coined in 1982 by [[Alan Perlis]] in the ''[[Epigrams on Programming]]'':<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Perlis|first1=A|journal=ACM SIGPLAN Notices|volume=17|issue=9|pages=7–13|title=Epigrams on Programming|date=September 1982|publisher=Yale University|doi=10.1145/947955.1083808|s2cid=20512767|doi-access=free}}</ref>

{{quote|54. Beware of the Turing tar-pit in which everything is possible but nothing of interest is easy.}}

In any [[Turing completeness|Turing complete]] language, it is possible to write any computer program, so in a very rigorous sense nearly all programming languages are equally capable. However, having that theoretical ability is not the same as usefulness in practice. Turing tarpits are characterized by having a simple [[abstract machine]] that requires the user to deal with many details in the solution of a problem.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://practicingruby.com/articles/exploring-a-turing-tarpit |title=Exploring the depths of a Turing tarpit |website=practicingruby.com |date=17 January 2012 |access-date=30 April 2023}}</ref> At the extreme opposite are interfaces that can perform very complex tasks with little human intervention but become obsolete if requirements change slightly.

Some [[esoteric programming languages]], such as [[Brainfuck]] or [[Malbolge]], are specifically referred to as "Turing tarpits"<ref name=chandra2014geek>{{cite book|last1=Chandra|first1=V|title=Geek Sublime: The Beauty of Code, the Code of Beauty|date=2014|publisher=Graywolf Press|isbn=9781555973261|url=https://archive.org/details/geeksublimebeaut0000chan|url-access=registration|quote=turing tarpit.|access-date=28 August 2015}}</ref> because they deliberately implement the minimum functionality necessary to be classified as Turing complete languages.  Using such languages is a form of [[mathematical recreation]]: programmers can work out how to achieve basic programming constructs in an extremely difficult but mathematically Turing-equivalent language.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20020609152409/http://www.catseye.mb.ca/esoteric/index.html Esoteric Topics in Computer Programming], Cat's Eye Technologies, Canada. (''"They present the programmer with the challenge, intrigue, and entertainment of looking at known algorithms and concepts in a whole new light."'')</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Computer programming}}

* [[Greenspun's tenth rule]]
* [[Zawinski's law of software envelopment]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* G. Fischer, A.C. Lemke, [https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/reports/kp78gh344 "Constrained Design Processes: Steps Toward Convivial Computing"], Technical Report CU-CS-369-87, [[University of Colorado]], USA.

* E.L. Hutchins, J.D. Hollan, D.A. Norman, {{cite journal |last1=Hutchins |first1=Edwin L. |last2=Hollan |first2=James D. |last3=Norman |first3=Donald A. |title=Direct Manipulation Interfaces |journal=Human–Computer Interaction |date=1 December 1985 |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=311–338 |doi=10.1207/s15327051hci0104_2 |url=http://cleo.ics.uci.edu/teaching/Winter10/231/readings/1-HutchinsHollanNorman-DirectManipulation-HCI.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613062436/http://cleo.ics.uci.edu/teaching/Winter10/231/readings/1-HutchinsHollanNorman-DirectManipulation-HCI.pdf |archive-date=13 June 2010}}.  Also found in {{cite book|author1=Donald A. Norman|author2=Stephen W. Draper|title=User Centered System Design: New Perspectives on Human-computer Interaction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qz5jQgAACAAJ|date=1 January 1986|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-89859-872-8}}

* Esolangs, [https://esolangs.org/wiki/Turing_tarpit Turing Tarpit].

[[Category:Alan Turing]]
[[Category:Recreational mathematics]]
[[Category:Theory of computation]]
[[Category:Software engineering folklore]]