View source for Markup language

A '''markup language''' is a system for [[Annotation|annotating]] a [[document]] in a way that is [[Syntax (logic)|syntactically distinguishable]] from the [[text]].

== Description ==

The idea and terminology evolved from the "marking up" of paper manuscripts, i.e., the revision instructions by editors, traditionally written with a blue pencil on authors' manuscripts.

== Tags ==

In [[digital media]] this "blue pencil instruction text" was replaced by [[Tag (markup language)|tags]].

Tags are [[metadata]]: they describe the content and format of the text.

== Examples ==

Examples include typesetting instructions such as those found in troff, TeX and LaTeX, or structural markers such as [[XML]] tags. Markup instructs the software that displays the text to carry out appropriate actions, but is omitted from the version of the text that users see.

Some markup languages, such as [[HTML]], have pre-defined presentation semantics -- meaning that their specification prescribes how to present the structured data. 

Others, such as XML, do not have pre-defined semantics, but instead require you to provide your own semantics, by inventing names and other properties for your XML tags.

== See also ==

* [[Formal language]]
* [[HTML]]
* [[HTML5]]
* [[Human-readable medium]]
* [[Nemeth Braille]]
* [[Metadata]]
* [[Syntax (logic)]]
* [[Syntax (programming languages)]]
* [[Tag (markup language)]]
* [[XHTML]]
* [[XML]]

== External Links ==

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markup_language Markup language] @ Wikipedia