4 ms·

It's not that it's not a language, it's that it's not a programming language. You don't write programs in it.

by wk_end 11mo ago

ayaros 11mo ago
That's where I'm coming from.
- deleted 11mo ago
  [deleted]
- nashashmi 11mo ago
  It is just a syntax language, used in programming web pages. that would be a better descriptor
  - MrJohz 11mo ago
    Why is that a better descriptor? I don't understand this desire to demarcate between programming languages and whatever a "syntax" language is. All languages have syntax, even natural languages - it's one of the terms we've borrowed from linguists. HTML is one of the languages I use when I am programming. In the sense, I really struggle to see the argument that it isn't a programming language, unless someone is using a very precise definition of "programming language" that I'm not privy to. There's a bunch of well-defined stuff it _isn't_ (e.g. Turing-complete), and a bunch of well-defined stuff that it is (e.g. declarative, or a markup language), but as far as I can tell there's no better definition of "programming language" than "language used for programming", and it certainly seems to fit that bill.
deleted 11mo ago
[deleted]
lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 11mo ago
This topic always tickles the pedantic part of my brain. If I may assume that the reader would agree that JS is a programming language, what makes it a programming language and not HTML? What makes a static .js file a program and a static .html file not a program?
- throwaway290 11mo ago
  programming language makes program markup language makes document program does things. document presents info. we use program to render document.
  - lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 11mo ago
    Thanks for your input but your answers still leave me with questions. > programming language makes program What makes a static .js file a program, not a document, and a static .html file a document, not a program? > we use program to render document. Is this like how node is a program that's used to render JS documents?
    - throwaway290 11mo ago
      you should start with definitions of program and document and you'll have your answer. in a simplified way, as i said: program does things. document presents info.
      - lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 11mo ago
        > in a simplified way, as i said: It's overly simplified to the point of being meaningless. A .js file is a document that presents information to me when I open it using a text editor. So is a .html file, for that matter. Something different happens when they're opened in a browser and, for that reason, they both seem to be programs as well.
        throwaway290 11mo ago
        you can ignore the fact that they look like text. look past that program and document just are different things. (I gave a simplified definition). if they both are represented using text when creating, it doesn't make them the same. because some text is a programming language and can create program, and some text use markup language and can create document. it's like humans and worms are carbon life, if you only look at that you can't tell difference between humans and worms. you need to look what kinds of cells are in them or even better what they do It seems like you want to intentionally not understand this?

It's not that it's not a language, it's that it's not a programming language. You don't write programs in it.

by wk_end 11mo ago

It's not that it's not a language, it's that it's not a programming language. You don't write programs in it.

ayaros 11mo ago

That's where I'm coming from.

deleted 11mo ago
[deleted]
nashashmi 11mo ago
It is just a syntax language, used in programming web pages. that would be a better descriptor
- MrJohz 11mo ago
  Why is that a better descriptor? I don't understand this desire to demarcate between programming languages and whatever a "syntax" language is. All languages have syntax, even natural languages - it's one of the terms we've borrowed from linguists. HTML is one of the languages I use when I am programming. In the sense, I really struggle to see the argument that it isn't a programming language, unless someone is using a very precise definition of "programming language" that I'm not privy to. There's a bunch of well-defined stuff it _isn't_ (e.g. Turing-complete), and a bunch of well-defined stuff that it is (e.g. declarative, or a markup language), but as far as I can tell there's no better definition of "programming language" than "language used for programming", and it certainly seems to fit that bill.

deleted 11mo ago

[deleted]

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 11mo ago

This topic always tickles the pedantic part of my brain. If I may assume that the reader would agree that JS is a programming language, what makes it a programming language and not HTML? What makes a static .js file a program and a static .html file not a program?

throwaway290 11mo ago
programming language makes program markup language makes document program does things. document presents info. we use program to render document.
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 11mo ago
  Thanks for your input but your answers still leave me with questions. > programming language makes program What makes a static .js file a program, not a document, and a static .html file a document, not a program? > we use program to render document. Is this like how node is a program that's used to render JS documents?
  - throwaway290 11mo ago
    you should start with definitions of program and document and you'll have your answer. in a simplified way, as i said: program does things. document presents info.
    - lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 11mo ago
      > in a simplified way, as i said: It's overly simplified to the point of being meaningless. A .js file is a document that presents information to me when I open it using a text editor. So is a .html file, for that matter. Something different happens when they're opened in a browser and, for that reason, they both seem to be programs as well.
      - throwaway290 11mo ago
        you can ignore the fact that they look like text. look past that program and document just are different things. (I gave a simplified definition). if they both are represented using text when creating, it doesn't make them the same. because some text is a programming language and can create program, and some text use markup language and can create document. it's like humans and worms are carbon life, if you only look at that you can't tell difference between humans and worms. you need to look what kinds of cells are in them or even better what they do It seems like you want to intentionally not understand this?