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ut is it "Programming"?
HyperText Markup Language. "The other day I got involved in
a bit of a discussion with a noted high school computer instructor. His text
books say that HTML and the ilk are not programming languages. I said I
thought designing web pages was very much like programming, and that I call
it programming. He said, no, all it is is 'authoring'. We repeated those
lines of thought for the next several tens of minutes. My final shot ended up
being - I'm going to write you up in my webpage" .. so there. |
| I say, if your definition of programming is that
rigid, get a new dictionary. Times change. So do definitions. Like, "It
ain't drivin' lessen' it gots a stick shift and a clutch". I say, if it
looks, sounds, and talks like a duck - why don't we just call it a duck? -
instead of making up a new word for it.
A program is a sequence of events .. like in a play - first act 1, then
act 2, etc. A language is a way of defining what the program will be on a
computer. I type it. Computer Boy does it. HTML is a programming language to
me, especially with Java and DirectX extensions. However, even without those
extensions, I can sequence a series of events that can take my users from
screen to glorious screen of dazzling information, sight, and sound. I can
call subroutines, enter data into selection boxes. Click link 1, 2 or 3 to
goto page A, B or C. Another click takes me back to my homepage. I can edit
the source code. It runs the same every time I use it. And just how different
is it from those C programmer reference "Hello World" sample
programs?
Just like WordPerfect has outgrown the "Word Processor"
designation, HTML is growing into and will eventually supercede the arbitrary
scientific classifications assigned to it. I am officially updating my
definition of "programming language". It is any language tool that
can run on a computer, accept user input and produce repeatable quantifiable
output. I say it is so much like programming, that it probably is. Quack,
Quack, I'm a HTML programmer.
PS .. I also think using WordPerfect is a type of programming
- a bit more limited than other languages - but it fits my definition.
<SO> THERE </SO> |
