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

["Really" <barryem@yahoo.com>]

"Randy McLaughlin" <randy@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:4j3Ia.220$nx5.98@fe05.atl2.webusenet.com...

> The automatic task is in describing to the client the tasks to
display the
> page the HTML code describes.  Like it or not it is a program.
The first
> program people tend to learn is the "hello" program:  Just a
program that
> prints hello to the console.  The first HTML code anyone learns
is just a
> simple.  HTML is a limited "language", but it does contain enough
structure
> to be a language.  If we carry your logic through then nothing
can be a
> program that does not take two weeks to rewire our eniacs.
>
> Many computer languages were created to bring the concept of
simple English
> to programming.  It has been an evolution with many strange
mutations, but
> computer languages continue to be created, HTML is just a small
but useful
> language for the GUI web environment.

Maybe it's time to clarify what we mean by program.  I don't mean
just on this list, but maybe the industry needs some clarification.

I see a program as an arrangement of machine instructions.  I see
anything that's interpreted as data being acted on by a program.
That would include interpreted BASIC, Java, Lotus macros, HTML,
etc.  C and compiled BASICs do produce executable code; machine
instructions.

I think the question of computation is hard to resolve otherwise.
The HTML interpreter certainly does computation.

Languages like Forth might interfere with my definition.  There is
interpretation but the programmer may or may not have written the
machine instructions that interpretation leads to as part of the
same program.

I'm not very expert at HTML.  Does it provide for inline assembly?
:)

Barry