A Turing machine is a hypothetical machine thought of by the mathematician Alan Turing in 1936. Despite its simplicity, the machine can simulate ANY computer algorithm, no matter how complicated it is!

Above is a very simple representation of a Turing machine.

• It consists of an infinitely-long tape which acts like the memory in a typical computer, or any other form of data storage. 

• The squares on the tape are usually blank at the start and can be written with symbols.

• In this case, the machine can only process the symbols 0 and 1 and " " (blank), and is thus said to be a 3-symbol Turing machine.

The machine has a head which is positioned over one of the squares on the tape. With this head, the machine can perform three very basic operations:

1. Read the symbol on the square under the head.
2. Edit the symbol by writing a new symbol or erasing it.
3. Move the tape left of right by one square so that the machine can read and edit the symbol on a neighbouring square.

The first written description of how an electronic computer should store and processes information; V Neumann architecture was originally published in John von Neumann'sreport of the EDVAC. This architecture is comprised of an Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), memory, Input/Output, and a control unit. This design is still used, in one form or another, in all computers and many electronic devices produced today.