Which of the following is not a programming language ?

Concept

A programming language is a formal notation with its own syntax and semantics in which a person writes source code; a compiler or an interpreter then translates that source code into instructions a computer can execute. Application software sits at the other end of that process: it is a finished, ready-to-run program that a user operates through an interface to get work done, not a notation in which programs are written.

Applying it here

• Pascal - a structured, imperative language published by Niklaus Wirth in 1970; Pascal source files are compiled into an executable.

• Java - an object-oriented language released by Sun Microsystems in 1995; Java source files are compiled into bytecode that the Java Virtual Machine executes.

• C++ - an object-oriented language released by Bjarne Stroustrup in 1985 as an extension of C; C++ source files are compiled into an executable.

• Microsoft Office - a suite of ready-to-run desktop applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) shipped by Microsoft; the user edits documents through its interface and writes no source code in order to use it.

Cross-check

Office does ship with a macro facility, Visual Basic for Applications, and that macro facility is itself a programming language - but it is a separate language embedded in the product, not the product itself. Judged by the test stated above, the items whose whole purpose is to express source code for translation are Pascal, Java and C++.

Hence the item that is not a programming language is Microsoft Office; it is application software.