An action language is a programming language, but one characterized by a higher level of abstraction than many target programming languages.
It separates the expression of functionality from lower-level design decisions such as containers, memory management, and tasking. It is also **model-aware**: it understands concepts such as classes, associations, and state machines.
Because it works with these higher-level concepts directly, an action language can express functionality more compactly—what the original article described as being “chunkier”—than a target language that requires those details to be spelled out.
*Historical note: this is a brief conceptual post from February 2016. For language syntax and current implementation details, consult the current BridgePoint and xtUML documentation.*
