A reference implementation of Turing's paper “On Computable Numbers”
A reference implementation of Turing's paper “On Computable Numbers”
Hey HN! I've been curious about the history of computer science and decided to try to read Turing's 1936 paper where he conceptualizes the Turing Machine, etc. I had trouble understanding the paper, read The Annotated Turing by Charles Petzold (which is wonderful), but felt that reading a reference implementation would help formalize my understanding. When I couldn't find an open source implementation, I decided to write my own. The implementation includes: - Abbreviated tables (m-functions) - Conversions to Standard Descriptions and Description Numbers - A working universal machine - A walkthrough of the paper section-by-section in the context of the codebase I'm still working on sections 8-11 (the math/logic is a bit difficult for me) - if you understand these sections well enough to explain, I'd love to talk to you! In general I am interested in new mediums for learning source material (web annotations, walkthroughs, reference implementations, etc.), and was inspired by Karpathy's Zero to Hero course in particular for this project.
Share cardActual performance
Launch Intel predictions
Analyze your own launch →Correct prediction on native model
Similar products
Turn a paper's DOI into its full reference list (BibTeX/RIS, etc.)
A reference implementation of Schönfinkel's Combinatory Logic paper
Go-Mnemonic – Reference Implementation of a BIP-39 Go
Implementing a trackball with rational numbers
Rational numbers for Java, why not?
Primeval Numbers
2048 without numbers
Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock + SignalR
Paper OTP
Paper airplane folding instructions