Re: Low-level vs. High-level programming (was My First Computer)

["Randy McLaughlin" <randy@nospam.com>]

"Kelly Hall" <hall@priest.com> wrote in message
news:ZGQLa.608$HR6.447@newssvr19.news.prodigy.com...
>
> "Randy McLaughlin" <randy@nospam.com> wrote in message
> news:m5MLa.12$At.6@fe02.atl2.webusenet.com...
> > I hate to tell you but computation is not required in a C program, and
> HTML
> > does have a defined synax.  I didn't mention semantics since that is the
> > original argument.
>
> My mistake for not being more clear: computer programming languages (like
C)
> must be able to express computation, although there's no requirement that
> every program do so.  I never suggested HTML doesn't have a defined syntax
> (or semantics).
>
> Kelly

"computer programming languages (like C) must be able to express
computation"  I have never heard anything so silly, there is no definition
that shows that.  The closest is that programming languages like "C" are
defined as "Turing complete" and as such C defines itself as a computational
language.  You are defining the need to be able to compute backwards:  Since
computer programming languages you are comfortable with are computational
all computer programming languages must be computational.  That is obviously
wrong.

If you want to say that HTML is not "Turing complete" that's easy.  If you
want to say that a computer is only allowed to do what Turing could invision
a computer doing, then all I will say is that is silly.

Turing did not tell anyone to go around and smash all the computers that do
not fit his model.