What Is a Turing Machine? 🖥️ The Foundational Concept of Modern Computing

In 1936, a 23-year-old British mathematician named Alan Turing revolutionized the future of computer science. While exploring the foundations of mathematics, Turing introduced a groundbreaking idea: a machine capable of computing any sequence—given enough time and memory. These theoretical devices, now known as Turing Machines, laid the foundation for modern computing.

A Turing Machine uses an infinite strip of tape divided into squares, each holding a symbol, and a read/write head that can read, write, and move left or right. Guided by simple rules, it can carry out any computation that today’s most advanced computers can perform.

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