Fractran (external)

Great read on implementing a FRACTRAN compiler and using it to code a FizzBuzz program in this most impractical of languages. Most people know John Conway’s name because of the Game of Life1, but FRACTRAN is another devious creation of his — a Turing-complete language made of fractions, as impractical as it is incomprehensible. There are other examples out there of folks actually coding in this language, either by hand or with the help of a compiler, but this three-parter is the most comprehensive write-up I’ve seen yet.


  1. The fun, pixely one; not the wheel-spinning, minivan-driving Milton-Bradley one. ↩︎