If there is a site that will let you play with strictly-validated HTML or something like that, I think that could be a good introduction to the idea of precise syntax without having to worry about algorithms or variables at first. But I agree that typically HTML is a bit too loose.
In fact now that I think about it, teaching syntax and semantics separately (eg with a stricter subset of HTML for the first and some sort of graphical programming thing like Scratch for the second) could be helpful for beginners.
If there is a site that will let you play with strictly-validated HTML or something like that, I think that could be a good introduction to the idea of precise syntax without having to worry about algorithms or variables at first. But I agree that typically HTML is a bit too loose.
In fact now that I think about it, teaching syntax and semantics separately (eg with a stricter subset of HTML for the first and some sort of graphical programming thing like Scratch for the second) could be helpful for beginners.