Markup languages are designed to annotate documents in a way that is syntactically distinguishable from the text. They use "tags," which are keywords often enclosed in angle brackets (e.g.,

,

), to define the structure, layout, and meaning of the content. Unlike traditional programming languages that use code (instructions, logic, loops) to perform computations, markup languages use tags to describe the elements within a document. HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and XML (eXtensible Markup Language) are primary examples of this language type.

B. Assembly: This is a low-level language using mnemonics for machine instructions; it is procedural code, not descriptive tags.
C. Query: This language type uses structured statements (code) like SELECT to interact with databases, not tags to format documents.
D. Compiled: This describes how a language is processed (translated to machine code before runtime), not its syntax or paradigm.

1. World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). (2017

December 14). HTML 5.2 W3C Recommendation. In Section 3.2.1

"Elements

" the document states

"Elements consist of three parts: a start tag

content

and an end tag... Tags are used to delimit the start and end of elements in the markup." This officially defines HTML as a language based on tags.

2. Sebesta

R. W. (2019). Concepts of Programming Languages (12th ed.). Pearson. In Chapter 2

Section 2.15.2

"Markup/Programming Hybrid Languages

" the text defines markup languages: "A markup language is a notation that is used to specify the layout of information in Web documents... The notation is called a tag."

3. Abelson

H.

Sussman

G. J.

& Sussman

J. (1996). Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (2nd ed.). MIT Press. While not a direct reference for CompTIA

this foundational MIT text distinguishes between declarative knowledge (what is) and imperative knowledge (how to). Markup languages are declarative

describing the document's structure with tags

whereas languages like Assembly are imperative. (See Chapter 1

Introduction).