Tur - Turing Machine Language

Tur is a domain-specific language for defining and executing Turing machines, complete with parser, interpreter, and multi-platform visualization tools.

Language Overview

Tur (.tur files) provides a clean, readable syntax for defining both single-tape and multi-tape Turing machines. The language includes:

• Declarative syntax for states, transitions, and tape configurations
• Multi-tape support with synchronized head movements
• Built-in validation and static analysis
• Cross-platform execution via CLI, TUI, and web interfaces

Syntax Examples

Single-Tape Turing Machine

name: Binary Counter
tape: 1, 0, 1, 1
rules:
  start:
    0 -> 0, R, start
    1 -> 1, R, start
    _ -> _, L, inc   # Reached end, go back to start incrementing
  inc:
    0 -> 1, S, done  # 0 becomes 1, no carry needed
    1 -> 0, L, inc   # 1 becomes 0, carry to next position
    _ -> 1, S, done  # Reached beginning with carry, add new 1
  done:

Multi-Tape Turing Machine

name: Copy Tape
tapes:
  [a, b, c]
  [_, _, _]
rules:
  copy:
    [a, _] -> [a, a], [R, R], copy
    [b, _] -> [b, b], [R, R], copy
    [c, _] -> [c, c], [R, R], copy
    [_, _] -> [_, _], [S, S], done
  done:

Language Specification

Program Structure

Every .tur program consists of:

name: Program Name

# Single-tape configuration
tape: symbol1, symbol2, symbol3
head: 0  # optional, defaults to 0

# OR multi-tape configuration
tapes:
  [tape1_symbol1, tape1_symbol2]
  [tape2_symbol1, tape2_symbol2]
heads: [0, 0]  # optional, defaults to [0, 0, ...]

# Optional blank symbol (defaults to ' ')
blank: ' '

# Transition rules
rules:
  state_a:
    input -> output, direction, next_state
    # ... more transitions
  state_b:
    # ... transitions

[!NOTE] The first state defined in the rules: section is automatically considered the start state. In the examples above, start is the initial state because it appears first.

Transition Rules

Single-tape format:

current_symbol -> write_symbol, direction, next_state

Multi-tape format:

[sym1, sym2, sym3] -> [write1, write2, write3], [dir1, dir2, dir3], next_state

Directions

• L or < - Move left
• R or > - Move right
• S or - - Stay (no movement)

Comments

# This is a comment
state:
  a -> b, R, next  # Inline comment

Special Symbols

• The underscore ("_") is a special symbol used to represent a blank character.
• Any other character or unicode string can be used as tape symbols.

Platforms

Command Line Interface (CLI)

# Run a program
cargo run --package tur-cli -- examples/binary-addition.tur

Terminal User Interface (TUI)

# Interactive TUI with program selection
cargo run --package tur-tui

Documentation

• API Documentation: docs.rs/tur
• Repository: github.com/rezigned/tur
• Examples: See the examples/ directory for sample .tur programs

License

• MIT License (LICENSE)