Of all the things you can say about an HTML file, the one thing you can absolutely not say is that it is a collection of instructions. It is literally a declarative description of components to be rendered.
I also did not say HTML is not a programming language.
> declarative description of components to be rendered.
Doesn't the "to be rendered" part make it instructions? Its like there are two labels for a bottle of poison: "poison" and "poison: do not drink". But the label that says "poison" is of a shape, color, and design that is commonly understood to be a label that tells the reader not to imbibe the contents of the bottle to which it is attached.
I also did not say HTML is not a programming language.