Editing 1266: Halting Problem
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
The edit can be undone.
Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision | Your text | ||
Line 8: | Line 8: | ||
==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
β | In 1936 {{w|Alan Turing}} proved that it's not possible | + | In 1936 {{w|Alan Turing}} proved that it's not possible to decide whether an arbitrary program will eventually halt, or run forever. This was later called the {{w|Halting problem}} by {{w|Martin Davis}}. The official definition of the problem is to write a program (actually, a {{w|Turing Machine}}) that accepts as parameters a program and its parameters. That program needs to decide, in finite time, whether that program will ever halt running these parameters. |
The halting problem is a cornerstone problem in computer science. It is used mainly as a way to prove a given task is impossible, by showing that solving that task will allow one to solve the halting problem. | The halting problem is a cornerstone problem in computer science. It is used mainly as a way to prove a given task is impossible, by showing that solving that task will allow one to solve the halting problem. |