toy language

2 definitions found

toy language - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  toy language
  
     <language> 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.
  
     [Jargon File]
  
     (1995-05-09)
  

toy language - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :

  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.