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toy language
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toy language /n./ A language useful for instructional
purposes or as a proof-of-concept for some aspect of
computer-science theory, but inadequate for general-purpose
programming. Bad Things can result when a toy language is
promoted as a general purpose solution for programming (see
bondage-and-discipline language); the classic example is
Pascal. Several moderately well-known formalisms for
conceptual tasks such as programming Turing machines also qualify
as toy languages in a less negative sense. See also MFTL.
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