Noah Anita

Management Information System

MW 10-11:30

HTML stands for complete hypertext markup language, and it is a formatting system for
displaying information acquired from the Internet. A Web page (from the World Wide Web) is a
retrieval unit that frequently contains hypertext links that allow similar pages to be accessed. The
markup language for encoding Web pages is HTML. It was created in the 1980s at the CERN
nuclear physics laboratory in Switzerland by British scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Headings,
paragraphs, and tables are all defined using HTML markup tags. They structure a document so
that it may be seen by a computer program called a Web browser. The tags are interpreted by the
browser, which then displays the headings, paragraphs, and tables in a layout that is tailored to
the screen size and typefaces available (Hemmendinge D, 2020).
In this research, there are three arguments for why HTML is not considered a programming
language and there are three arguments for why HTML is considered a programming language.
1. HTML is Not a Programming Language by Ben Romy
2. HTML is not a programing language by Brian D Foy
3. HTML is not a programming language by Simon
4. HTML is a Programming Language by Alvaro Montoro
5. HTML is a programming language by Chris Pietschmann
6. HTML is a programming language by Cheesus Toast

1. HTML is Not a Programming Language by Ben Romy

According to Romy (2012), HTML is a type of markup language. It encapsulates, or “marks up”
data within HTML tags, which define the data and describe its purpose on the webpage. The web
browser then reads the HTML, which tells it things like which parts are headings, which parts are
paragraphs, which parts are links, etc. The HTML describes the data to the browser, and the
browser then displays the data accordingly.
That’s how the browser knows that “This is a heading”, “This is a paragraph”, and “This is a
link”.
Romy argues that this is not programming. He further stated that the above is not an example of
an executable script. The HTML was only used in the above to mark up the text for the browser
to read and interpret as web page content. It told the browser which parts where headings, which
were paragraphs, and which were links, and the browser displayed them as such. HTML is used
for structural purposes on a web page, not functional ones.
According to Romy, Programming languages have functional purposes. HTML, as a markup
language doesn’t really “do” anything in the sense that a programming language does. HTML
contains no programming logic. It doesn’t have common conditional statements such as If/Else.
It can’t evaluate expressions or do any math. It doesn’t handle events or carry out tasks. You
can’t declare variables and you can’t write functions. It doesn’t modify or manipulate data in any
way. HTML can’t take input and produce output. Think of it this way: you can’t compute the
sum of 2 + 2 in HTML; that’s not what it’s for. This is because HTML is not a programming
language.
2. HTML is not a programing language by Brian D Foy
No, HTML is not a programming language. The "M" stands for "Markup". Generally, a
programming language allows you to describe some sort of process of doing something, whereas
HTML is a way of adding context and structure to text.
If you're looking to add more alphabet soup to your CV, don't classify them at all. Just put them
in a big pile called "Technologies" or whatever you like. Remember, however, that anything you
list is fair game for a question.
HTML is so common that I'd expect almost any technology person to already know it (although
not stuff like CSS and so on), so you might consider not listing every initialism you've ever come
across. I tend to regard CVs listing too many things as suspicious, so I ask more questions to
weed out the stuff that shouldn't be listed.
However, if your HTML experience includes serious web design stuff including Ajax,
JavaScript, and so on, you might talk about those in your "Experience" section (Foy, 2021).
3. HTML is not a programming language by Simon
Simon argues that HTML is not a programming language because he believes that there’s a big
prejudice in IT against web design but in this case the "real" programmers are on firm ground.
He stated that, “If you've done a lot of web design work you've probably done some JavaScript,
so you can put that down under 'programming languages'; if you want to list HTML as well, then
I agree with the answer that suggests “Technologies”. But unless you're targeting agents who're
trying to tick boxes rather than find you a good job, a bare list of things you've used doesn't
really look all that good. You're better off listing the projects you've worked on and detailing the
technologies you used on each that demonstrates that you've got real experience of using them
rather than just that you know some buzzwords.

4. HTML is a Programming Language by Alvaro Montoro

Montoro (2021) argue that the statement “HTML is a markup language, not a programming
language” is wrong. Montoro stated that markup languages can be programming languages. Not
all of them are (most are not) but they can be. If we drew a Venn diagram of programming
languages and markup languages, it would not be two separate circles, but two circles that
slightly intersect.
A markup language that operates with variables, has control structures, loops, etc., would also be
a programming language. They are not mutually exclusive concepts.

TeX and LaTeX are examples of markup languages that are also considered programming
languages. It may not be practical to develop with them, but it is possible. And we can find
examples online, like a BASIC interpreter or a Mars Rover controller (Montoro A, 2021)
Montoro further stated that markup languages can be programming languages. Therefore, saying
that HTML is not a programming language because it is a markup language is based on a false
statement, and whatever conclusion you arrive at from that premise will be categorically wrong.
5. HTML is a programming language by Chris Pietschmann
You really want to list the most important things you know that are relative to the job you're
applying for on your resume. If you list ASP.NET but don't list HTML, even though it's
somewhat obvious, there are a lot of managers and/or HR types that will assume you don't know
HTML since it's not listed. I've had it happen to me before.
Update - Some say no it isn't a programming language, and you may not agree with me on this,
but regardless on a resume it IS a programming language. You get HR types looking at your
resume before the hiring manager even sees it. If the manager says you need to know HTML,
and it's not listed in the 'programming languages' section then the HR person may disregard you
resume thinking you don't know it because it's not listed.
Update 6-8-2012: Any instruction that tells the computer to do something is a programming
language. So even after all these years, I still stand by my answer. HTML is a programming
language. Something that isn't a programming language would be XML (Pietschmann, 2012).
6. HTML is a programming language by Cheesus Toast
According to Toast (2021), HTML is a programming language as simple as it is, it still falls into
the umbrella term of programming language. He further stated that, very often in Word you
manually configure what is a paragraph or heading etc. In HTML you "automate" the process by
telling or instructing the browser to make something a heading or paragraph (along with all the
other instructions that are available). Programming can be very simple or complex. There is no
set parameter for how complex something needs to be for it to be "programming". It simply
needs to be something that makes something do something. (Toast C, 2021)
REFERENCES:

HTML | computer science. (2019). In Encyclopædia Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/technology/HTML
Why HTML is Not a Programming Language by Ben Romy. (2012, April 5). ISchool | Syracuse
University. https://ischool.syr.edu/why-html-is-not-a-programming-language/
HTML is Not a Programming Language? (2021, August 16). CSS-Tricks. https://css-
tricks.com/html-is-not-a-programming-language/
Is HTML considered a programming language? (n.d.). Stack Overflow. Retrieved November 30,
2021, from https://stackoverflow.com/questions/145176/is-html-considered-a-
programming-language