[kerryfalk]

That's actually not a bad answer, I think. Along with david927's comment this could be setting someone down the right path.

I think it's a good answer because understanding what they are and how they relate to each other through the stack is good knowledge to have. They're the building blocks of everything that gets done. Not understanding that, at minimum, is no different than having a CFO of a manufacturing company that has no idea what SolidWorks is or why things need to be welded together (or even what a weld is!).

I wouldn't guide people away from learning to code, unless they didn't really want to do it. Unless you really, really want to learn, don't. You'll waste your time and the result won't be nearly as good as spending time on something that would be more useful.