A markup language is a system for annotating a document in a way that is distinguishable from the actual body of text itself. The concept originates from the marking up of paper manuscripts by editors with a different coloured pen. In computing, the red pen instructions have been replaced with tags that describe something about the text in the enclosed tags, depending on the language these tags can describe things such as: positioning on a page, formatting (such as colour or font) or just define what the enclosed text means.
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Technipages Explains Markup Language
The most widely known and popular markup language would be HTML5 (HyperText Markup Language (a modern updated version of HTML)) which is used to describe how web pages should appear in an internet browser. HTML5 uses a similar structure to the DML (Declarative Markup Language) of HTML but includes tags and that means it is no longer purely declarative such as the <i> and <b> tags for Italics and Bold respectively.
Presentational markup languages are the sort seen in most word processing software, binary flags embedded in the document that mark a particular section of text as bold or underlined, for example, this is also referred to as the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). This type of markup is generally hidden from all users and directly alters the presentation of the affected resource.
Procedural markup languages such as TeX and PostScript embed their markup notation in the text which provide processing instructions for the programs processing the text. The processor will run through the marked-up text in order from beginning to end and will follow the markup as encountered.
Common Uses of Markup Language
- Markup language are different from programming languages in that they are data without instructions.
- HTML is a popular markup language used to encode web pages.
- Markup languages tend to include their notation in-line, however, it is possible to isolate the markup text from content.
Common Misuses of Markup Language
- You can increase your grades in exams through the use of a markup language.