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"Programming Language" IS an umbrella term. Compiled and interpreted are subsets. A programming language is a language which results in a set of instuctions that directly control the operation of a 'computer' in its application to a task. A formatting language does not control the operation of the processor -- the processor controls the application of the formatting in response to ANOTHER set of instructions produced in some programming language. The mental application of logic to the game of "Clue" is not programming. It is a skill that is definitely an adjunct to programming, though. If people want to get down and dirty and pick nits about what programming means in terms of today's architectures, then they need to study real things. The Von Neumann architecture. The design and control of hardware logic elements. These are the foundations of the industry. "Programming" is a layer of some level of abstraction that actually controls these things and interprets the results in ways that lend themselves to being construed as solutions to problems. It seems to me that possibly the introduction of high levels of abstraction, which is a Good Thang for problem solving, has encouraged off-the-cuff muddy thinking about what really transpires twixt the brain cells and the results. While this bodes well for solutions, it doesn't bode well for additional progress, because the users don't understand the used well enough to advance it.
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