Computer Science › Section M · Theory of computation › Topic M.3
Universal programming languages
Python offers lists, functions, objects and dozens of other features, but how many does it actually need? Surprisingly few: a language with one kind of variable, three simple statements and one loop can compute everything any language can.
In this topic
- What does a language really need?
- Tally: a language with four statements
- Programs as functions
- Worked example: tripling a number
- Building blocks: setting and copying
- Worked example: an if from a loop
- Why Tally is universal
- Every general-purpose language contains Tally
- The ingredient that matters
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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