What Is A Markup Language?

Date First Published: 4th March 2024

Topic: Web Design & Development

Subtopic: Web Development

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 4/10

Learn about what a markup language is in this article.

A markup language is a text-encoding system used to define the structure and formatting of a document. It uses easily understandable tags, elements, and keywords to format the appearance of a page and instruct software applications and web browsers on how to display content.

Markup languages are rendered by web browsers and other software applications. They are invisible to the reader of a webpage or document and the only way to view it is by accessing the source code.

Examples Of Markup Languages

Examples of markup languages include:

• HTML - The markup language used to create webpages. HTML consists of hundreds of different elements and tags, all of which instruct the web browser on how to display content and load images and other elements. Every webpage on the web is built using HTML.
• XML - A markup language used for storing and transmitting data. XML stores data in a plain text and structured format between tags, providing a format that is compatible with a wide range of operating systems, web browsers, applications, and systems, and is both human-readable and machine-readable.
• SGML - A standard for defining generalised markup languages for documents. It is an ISO standard that offers a general definition of a markup language.

Types Of Markup Languages

The two main types of markup languages are:

• Descriptive markup language - These describe or label elements or sections of a web document. HTML and XML are the two most widely used descriptive markup systems.
• Procedural markup language - They are more complex and offer instructions on how their tags should be processed. Postscript and LaTex are the two most widely used procedural markup languages.

Difference Between A Markup Language and Programming Language

A markup language is not a programming language. The main difference between a markup language and a programming language is that a markup language is used to structure and format text and other content, whilst a programming language is used to create software applications and operating systems.

Unlike programming languages, markup languages do not allow for the use of variables, conditional statements, or iterative looping structures. They are just used to define the representation of data and do not require any algorithms or logic. Programming languages provide extra functionality that markup languages do not support, such as interactive, dynamic, or computational behaviours.

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