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Discussion on: Of course HTML is a programming language

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mjb2kmn profile image
MN Mark

No: HTML is not a programming language.

Also No: this doesn't mean it's any less valuable of a skill.

Also not programming languages: xml, yaml, json, markdown. They don't need to be called programming languages to be considered valuable skills.

Saying HTML is not a programming language while JavaScript is, makes no comparison between the 2 languages at all. It is indicative of each language's abilities and uses.

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stereobooster profile image
stereobooster

HTML - some text which makes computer do something e.g. display a form or a text etc. How that is not a programming language?

Here is good paper on PL classification if you have any further doubts

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mjb2kmn profile image
MN Mark

HTML does not make, or instruct, the computer to do anything.

<title>Page</title>

The above HTML snippet could be viewed as a key/value pair. The key being title and value being Page. There is no instruction to store, display, or interpret this value.

Another way to view it is that there is one piece of information "Page", which has markup code wrapped around it to define what type of data it is, "title". In being a markup language HTML essentially defines meta-data.

HTML has no instructions, it cannot actively do anything or instruct a computer to do anything.

Again, this does not make it any less or more in status than a programming language. A markup language just isn't a programming language; and that's OK.

I think the distinction between markup and program/logic code is important, it's a matter of accuracy and managing expectations.

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stereobooster profile image
stereobooster • Edited

You saying "instruct" as if alert('Hey') (or any other JS function) have some magic powers to actually instruct computer. No it doesn't. Browser reads it, converts to instruction set, sends it processor (or GPU or...) and eventually machine executes it.

What happens with HTML? Browser reads it, converts it to instruction and send it to machine, which executes it.

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tarascz profile image
Jiří Tarašovič

That sounds like over-simplyfication to me.
You could also say that about writing into Word document. Word have to do the same to be able to display formatted document, but it doesn't make Word a programming language.