markup

A markup language is one that is designed for defining and presenting text. HTML (HyperText Markup Language), is an example of a markup language.

Within a text file such as an HTML file, elements are marked up using tags which explain the purpose of that part of the content.

Presentational Markup:

Used by traditional word processing system with WYSIWYG (what you see it is what you get); this is hidden from human authors, users and editors.

Procedural Markup:

Combined with text to provide instructions on text processing to programs. This text is visibly manipulated by the author.

Descriptive Markup:

Labels sections of documents as to how the program should handle them. For example, the HTML <td> defines a cell in a HTML table.

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