Turing tarpit

noun

The situation in which a programming language is only minimally Turing complete, so that "everything is possible but nothing is easy".

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Meanings

Turing tarpit1

nounTuring tarpit (plural Turing tarpits)

plural Turing tarpits · alternative Turing Tarpit

  1. computingThe situation in which a programming language is only minimally Turing complete, so that "everything is possible but nothing is easy".

    Without more abstract notions of what constitutes important aspects of a programming language, one is seriously in danger of falling into the Turing Tarpit.

    1994, Jørgen Lindskov Knudsen, Object-oriented Environments: The Mjolner Approach
    1 more example

    The basic reason for increasing the size of the language is the so-called Turing tarpit: if the language is too simple, one may be able to do anything in it.

    1985, Jean-Paul Tremblay, Paul G Sorenson, The Theory and Practice of Compiler Writing

Turing Tarpit2

nounTuring Tarpit (plural Turing Tarpits)

plural Turing Tarpits

  1. alternativeAlternative form of Turing tarpit.

Origin

Coined by Alan Perlis (1922-1990), computer scientist, from the name of Alan Turing (1912-1954), who described a basis for all possible computational algorithms, and tarpit.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Turing tarpit. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Turing%20tarpit

MLA

“Turing tarpit.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Turing%20tarpit. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Turing tarpit,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Turing%20tarpit.

Source: Turing tarpit on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.