it&#x27;s a programming language in the same way that a flashing light can be a programming language.  If someone on the other side is using it to make decisions then you&#x27;re technically programming something so it&#x27;s a &quot;programming&quot; language.<p>I mean sure, technically that&#x27;s true, but it&#x27;s also not interesting.<p>The interesting thing about regexp is that it&#x27;s really damned close to the mathematical notations used for describing regular grammars, and therefore it&#x27;s a good, tight way to specify pattern matches on regular grammars.<p>No one ever really answers with &quot;I&#x27;ve been programming the regular grammar parser&quot;.  Sure, maybe technically that&#x27;s what they&#x27;ve been doing, but the context isn&#x27;t really right.