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[Michael Clark]

programming language
	n. An artificial language used to write instructions that can
be translated into machine language and then executed by a computer.
	(dictionary.com)

---
We know HTML is a language.

We know tags are instructions.  Simple instructions, but instructions
none the less!  For example:

<p>hello <strong>world</strong></p>

Carries the instructions to treat the entire block "hello world" as a
paragraph and set the word "world" aside from hello in a manner
indicating it is stronger.

Before getting into it, I would like to say that I do not think anyone
can be right or wrong on this topic.  No one will be right!
Programming is too generic of a word, defined in too many places and
used in too many ways.  Also the line between scripting, programming,
marking up, and expressions grows blurrier all the time.  For
instance, here's a good one:  are regular expressions a form of
programming?  I digress!  Stay with me.

Now, I tend to agree in a theoretical sense that HTML is not a
programming language.  Especially if you read the most recent
documents about content vs. presentation (i.e., HTML should not
suggest layout, only content.  CSS should suggest layout).

In a practical sense, however, and using a nice, fuzzy, definition of
'programming language' (see top of post), I think it's quite fair to
call HTML a programming language.  It is expectancy fair to say
"programming HTML".  Though HTML is not supposed to provide
instructions to the browser, a great deal of HTML does.

In fact, in practice, much of the time spent writing HTML today is
probably spent refining the "code" so that the "instructions" are
"interpreted" by the computer correctly.  E.G., lining up that table
with the image!  Of course, this is all in practice.

Take for example the fact that I can create a Java program without
touching a line of code.  I just fire up JBuilder and use the GUI
designer.  I press run.  Presto.  That doesn't make Java any less of a
programming language.  But I would hesitate to say that I "programmed
in Java" after finishing my little stunt.

As for loops and I/O, well, I think you should be arguing over the
definition of a programming language there.  I do not think you will
convince a _wide_ audience that all programming languages must have
loops and I/O.

But, as for loops, I think if your horizons are very broad, and you
like to do drugs, think of tables as loops.  For each row, draw a
column.  Smacks of loop . . .

Now there is the fact that tables really are used ubiquitously for the
wrong thing -- layout instead of creating relational content.  But
therein lies the difference between the practice of programming html
and the theory of marking up content.

peace
-- 
Michael
echo suqezdogykralcm | perl -pe '$_=reverse."\n";tr/yq/@./;'