FRACTRAN is an esoteric, Turing-complete programming language invented by the mathematician John Horton Conway, in which a program is simply an ordered list of fractions, and execution consists of repeatedly multiplying a single starting integer by the first fraction in the list that yields another integer, halting when no fraction in the list can be applied. Despite this extremely minimal mechanism, FRACTRAN programs can compute any computable function, including a seventeen-fraction FRACTRAN program written by Conway that generates successive prime numbers.
Facts
First Released SignificanceFRACTRAN's significance is that it shows a Turing complete model of computation can be built from nothing more than an ordered list of fractions applied to a single integer, a mechanism its inventor famously used to generate prime numbers. 2 Connections
In Field
Source FRACTRAN, Wikipedia
Sources
1. Programming Language Database (PLDB): FRACTRAN
Programming Language Database (PLDB)Page header
FRACTRAN is an esoteric programming language created in 1996 by John Conway .
In Group: Minimalist and Unconventional Esoteric Languages, Page text
Turing-complete esoteric programming language invented by the mathematician John Conway
View the Source 2. FRACTRAN, Wikipedia
Lead section
FRACTRAN is a Turing-complete esoteric programming language invented by the mathematician John Conway.
In Field: Programming Language Theory, Lead sentence
FRACTRAN is a Turing-complete esoteric programming language invented by the mathematician John Conway.
View the SourceWikidata: FRACTRAN
Wikidata Q3063395, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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