HTML is not a programming language, it's a "markup language", duh. *grin* I think it helps that I was using nroff/troff's for document formatting long before I learned HTML, and dot commands don't constitute a programming language, either.
I am the "other" listed on High/Low question. The first programming language I had formally and *programmed* in *myself* was BASIC, but I was helping a little friend hack in assembler and machine code several years before then. For me it's like saying, "I can read X romance language, but I can't generate new text or speak in it." I still consider that some form of "learning" because I had, at that point, some ability to troubleshoot things that weren't working.
These days, I am almost *never* called upon to program, but I do sometimes end up in gigs where it's very helpful that I can understand C and C++ and COBOL and VB and a few other things. A few years back, my job was support third party developers implementing an ad-sharing SDK into their own apps. I *frequently* had these basement coders sending me snippets of implementation code and asking me "Why isn't it working?" and could figure that out more often than not without actually bothering a programmer. I consider that skill analogous to my ability to read end-user support email sent in a number of languages, like German, that I don't speak with any fluency. Even without interactive fluency, I read enough to be able to understand the problem and reply in English with the solution and a polite, "I'm sorry, we don't have support people who speak , can you write again in English?"
I find it a bit amusing that I now use HTML for the very things I used to use nroff for: quick markup of a text file to make it print (or email) prettily, add headers/bold/italics, or fix really bollixed line breaks so I can just read a story on my screen. Toss in some HTML, throw Lynx at it, and bang, it's done. Especially since my nroff is currently so rusty that I need a cheat-sheet for it, but my HTML chops are current.
Note that I never used troff. If I'd gotten used to relying on troff, I might have wound up learning TeX by now.
I was all set to say "high level" and "can still write in it like breathing", but the more I thought about it, the more I thought I really should count programmable calculators as my first programming language, not BASIC. I was startled to see how many people had already answered the poll by the time I'd made the first scan for typos and thought about putting in my own answers.
(no subject)
I am the "other" listed on High/Low question. The first programming language I had formally and *programmed* in *myself* was BASIC, but I was helping a little friend hack in assembler and machine code several years before then. For me it's like saying, "I can read X romance language, but I can't generate new text or speak in it." I still consider that some form of "learning" because I had, at that point, some ability to troubleshoot things that weren't working.
These days, I am almost *never* called upon to program, but I do sometimes end up in gigs where it's very helpful that I can understand C and C++ and COBOL and VB and a few other things. A few years back, my job was support third party developers implementing an ad-sharing SDK into their own apps. I *frequently* had these basement coders sending me snippets of implementation code and asking me "Why isn't it working?" and could figure that out more often than not without actually bothering a programmer. I consider that skill analogous to my ability to read end-user support email sent in a number of languages, like German, that I don't speak with any fluency. Even without interactive fluency, I read enough to be able to understand the problem and reply in English with the solution and a polite, "I'm sorry, we don't have support people who speak , can you write again in English?"
(no subject)
Note that I never used troff. If I'd gotten used to relying on troff, I might have wound up learning TeX by now.
I was all set to say "high level" and "can still write in it like breathing", but the more I thought about it, the more I thought I really should count programmable calculators as my first programming language, not BASIC. I was startled to see how many people had already answered the poll by the time I'd made the first scan for typos and thought about putting in my own answers.