toy language

toy language n.  A language useful for instructional
   purposes or as a proof-of-concept for some aspect of
   computer-science theory, but inadequate for general-purpose
   programming.  {Bad Thing}s can result when a toy language is
   promoted as a general purpose solution for programming (see
   {bondage-and-discipline language}); the classic example is
   {{Pascal}}.  Several moderately well-known formalisms for
   conceptual tasks such as programming Turing machines also qualify
   as toy languages in a less negative sense.  See also {MFTL}.