At what point does a config file become a programming language?

Question

I have been mulling over config files and their relationship to code for a while now and depending on the day and direction of the wind my opinions seem to change. More and mor

Answer 1

I have seen python programs where the config file is code. If you don't need to do anything special (conditionals, etc.) it doesn't look much different from other config styles. e.g. I could make a file config.py with stuff like:

num_threads = 13
hostname = 'myhost'

and the only burden on the user, compared with (say) INI files, is that they need to put '' around strings. No doubt you could do the same thing in other interpreted languages. It gives you unlimited ability to complicate your config file if necessary, at the risk of possibly scaring your users.