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Re: Low-level vs. High-level programming (was My First Computer)
"Randy McLaughlin" <randy@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:AInIa.10960$J52.8080@fe02.atl2.webusenet.com...
> I am glad to understand you now: Dictionaries are misleading, does that
> mean you have no reference to show your definition of programming? CSS
> cascading style sheets a poorly implimented extension that MAY someday
> become standardized and useful and related to HTML, but is like talking
> about apples and showing sand.
>
> Get back to the point show a reference to your definition of programming
so
> anyone who is interested can see if they agree with you. Using industry
> buzzwords to avoid the issue adds nothing.
You're starting to grasp it. Yes, "programming" is a general term that
predated computers, that encompasses many things. "Computer programming" is
an industry term specific to the software field, and thus a dictionary of
general-use English generally does not encompass its industry use. Its
industry use mandates Turing-complete, control structures, etc.
If HTML is a "computer program", and writing HTML is "computer programming",
(in the sense that it has tags that indicate to a display program how text
is displayed), then somebody entering a document into a word processor is
also a "computer programmer", since the exact same end is being
accomplished. Hence the distinction: A "computer programmer" manipulates
computers to do what anything that he/she wants, beyond merely an
application level. A "programmer" gives data sets to anything that takes
instructions (mechanical devices, computer applications, human minds, etc).
"Computer programmer" is a subset of "programmer", since asm/C++/etc source
code is an instruction set, so all "computer programmers" are "programmers",
but not all "programmers" are "computer programmers". By these definitions,
writing HTML would classify as "programming" what a web browser should
display, but it's not "computer programming".
And if you disagree, you can shove it where the sun don't shine, sideways.
;-)
--
White Flame (aka David Holz)
http://www.white-flame.com/
(spamblock in effect)