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

Config files invariably inch their way to becoming ugly, illogical "full fledged programming languages". It takes art and skill to design good programming languages, and config languages turned programming language tend to be horrendous.

A good approach is to use a nicely designed language, say python or ruby, and use it to create a DSL for your configuration. That way your configuration language can remain simple on the surface but in actually be the full fledged programming language.