Talk:Brainfuck

I do not agree with this edit. There is some significant disagreement about the most appropriate wording. At least two editors obviously have a different opinion than mine.

Here is my rationale:

Computer programming can be descibed as a process of breaking programs down to smaller steps, or similarly, breaking programs down to small "commands".

Therefore, a programmer has to break down programs into (small) commands; in the case of BF, a programmer has to break down programs into microscopic commands.

In my opinion, it is not sensible to say that "commands" need to be broken down, because the "commands" are the end-goal. In BF, they are actually called "commands"; other languages may use different terminology, like "instructions", or "statements". "Commands" are the basic elements provided by any specific programming language; "commands" are not supposed to be divided further.

Here are a few suggestions for alternative wording, which would still be correct from my perspective:

• "to break tasks down to microscopic steps"
• "to break tasks down into microscopic commands"
• "to break desired functionality down to microscopic steps"
• "to break desired functionality down into microscopic commands"
• "to break program down into microscopic commands"

I'm not a native english speaker, so this might be a question of language barrier, where different terminology is employed in my native language when compared to English. Can anyone shine some light, what exactly is happening here? I'm quite confused by this strange disagreement. Z80Spectrum (talk) 14:06, 12 February 2024 (UTC)

The article states "Müller's original compiler was implemented in machine language and compiled to a binary with a size of 296 bytes." But if it was compiled is was presumably written in assembly language. Machine language is the result of the compilation. BruceThomson (talk) 09:38, 6 April 2024 (UTC)

Fixed the issue. As can be seen from the aminet distribution, the compiler was implemented in assembly. Erkcan (talk) 05:00, 30 August 2024 (UTC)

There are a number of sources on the internet about Urban Müller being a physics student. However except for the domain name of the email address he used in 1993, no indication of him being related to any physics topic can be found. On the other hand, in a January 1995 interview with the online magazine Amiga Report, he states that he is a Computer Science student. He might have switched majors, but it is unclear. Hence I have simply replaced "physics student" with just "student" in the article for now. Erkcan (talk) 07:36, 30 August 2024 (UTC)

I was surprised to see no mention of the 2024 artificial life experiment by Blaise Agüera y Arcas et al. (2024): https://arxiv.org/pdf/2406.19108

Worth weaving in or too arcane? JNBohannon (talk) 02:22, 2 November 2025 (UTC)

The redirect Brainflakes has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2026 January 14 § Brainflakes until a consensus is reached. Casablanca 🪨^(T) 16:45, 14 January 2026 (UTC)