The metaphor comes from the famous mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing, who, along with John von Neumann and other theoreticians, uncovered the link between the mathematics of whole numbers and logic. Turing proposed that all computations and logical operations could be performed by a simple machine, which he called the Universal Turing Machine, reading and modifying a linear sequence of symbols.
这一比喻说法来自著名数学家兼计算机科学家阿兰·图灵（Alan Turing），他和John von Neumann以及其他理论家，发现了所有数学数字和逻辑之间的联系。图灵提出可以使用一种简单的、被他称之为“通用图灵机”的机器，来阅读并修改线性序列符号，以进行计算和逻辑推理。这不仅需要机器本身将这些（可视化为一盘磁带的）符号进行物理分离，更需要磁带本身带有支持机器运行的数据。因此该数据可分为两种类型：一种为含有能被机器识读的逻辑序列“含义”的程序；以及提供支持程序运作内容的纯数据。