What are Programming, Scripting, and Markup languages?
Many people often do not know the differences between programming, scripting, and markup languages and use terms interchangeably. They might sound similar but are quite different from each other. Anyone in the field of computer science or the field of software development must know the difference and when to use them. However recent developments in the world of programming have blurred the lines of distinction between them.
When it comes to making a website or an app, it involves three types of languages i.e. the Programming language, Scripting Language, and Markup Language.
We’ll see how these pillars of the website or an app are different from one another and how every language fits into a particular category.
What is a Markup language?
From the term itself, we can guess that a markup language is all about visuals and looks.
They are primarily used for the presentation of data or to represent a view inside a web browser.
They determine the final outlook or appearance of the data that needs to be displayed on the software.
These are presentational languages and it doesn’t include any kind of logic or algorithm.
For example, HTML does not ask any kind of questions to the computer or it’s not comparing things and it’s not asking any logical questions.
It tells the browser how to structure data for a specific page, layout, headings, title, table, and all or styling a page in a particular way.
A markup language will not describe a process or an algorithm (like programming language does) but is just pure data.
Markup consists of notations called “tags,” which specify the function of a piece of text or how it is to be displayed.
The browser interprets the tags, displaying the headings, paragraphs, and tables in a layout that is adapted to the screen size and fonts available to it.
The most widely used markup languages are HTML(Hypertext Markup Language), and XML(Extensible Markup Language).
What is a Programming language?
A programming language is simply a set of rules that tells a computer system what to do and how to do it. It gives the computer instructions for performing a particular task.
A programming language consists of a series of well-defined steps which the computer must strictly follow to produce the desired output.
These are used to interact with computers to develop or build desktop apps, websites, and mobile apps.
Programming languages usually consist of two components-syntax(form) and semantics(meaning).
Programming languages can be divided into 3 categories:
Machine Language: Machine language is the direct representation of the code and data run directly by a computing device. These are a type of low-level language that contains instructions in binary or hexadecimal format and are the elemental language of computers.
Assembly Language: An assembly language is an encoding of machine code into something more readable.
It assigns human-readable labels (or names) to storage locations, jump targets, and subroutine starting addresses, but doesn’t go too far beyond that.
High-Level Language: A high-level language gets away from all the constraints of a particular machine.
These are used to create user-friendly software and websites.
Most programming languages are compiled. The translation overhead is incurred just once when the source is compiled; after that, it merely needs to be loaded and run.
High-level language can be further divided into:
- Procedural-oriented programming languages
- Object-oriented programming languages
- Natural Language
Some examples of programming languages are C, C++, Java, and Python.
What is a scripting language?
A scripting language is a type of language that is designed to integrate and communicate with other programming languages.
The main feature of scripting languages is that they can guide other programs, much like a script that will give an actor/actress their cue to start his/her part.
These are the subcategory of programming languages that are used to provide steering to another application or we can say to manipulate some other program, so it also entails instructions.
These are mostly used in conjunction with other languages, either programming or markup languages.
For example, PHP which is a scripting language is mostly used in conjunction with HTML.
It is safe to say that all scripting languages are programming languages, but not all programming languages are scripting languages.
Scripting languages are designed specifically for runtime environments. It automates the execution of tasks.
They are used in system administration, web development, games, and creating plugins and extensions.
These are interpreted languages and offer new functionalities to the applications.
While the programming languages are used to develop programs and software from scratch, scripting languages are used to incorporate additional functionalities into the program.
No special software is required to run scripting languages as they are supported by almost every platform.
There are two main types of scripting languages:
- Server-side scripting language: Server-side scripting languages are used to create dynamic web pages. They are executed at a web server. These languages perform backend operations. Examples- PHP, Python, Node.js, Ruby, and Pearl.
- Client-side scripting language: Client-side scripting language runs off the browsers. These languages are considered front-end languages. Examples- HTML, jQuery, CSS and JavaScript
How are Scripting and Programming languages different?
Scripting and Programming languages are not the same. Programming languages were created to make complex software whereas scripting languages were created to assist programming languages. Let’s see their differences:
Thus all three languages are required for software development. All the scripting languages can be used as a programming language but vice versa is not true. The basic difference between them is that scripting languages are not compiled, they are interpreted.
