imperative_programming - definition of imperative_programming - synonyms, pronunciation, spelling from Free Dictionary

Open English WordNet

Noun (1)

a programming paradigm that describes computation in terms of statements that change a program state.“Procedural programming, on the other hand, is a specific type (or subset) of Imperative programming, where you use procedures (i.e., functions) to describe the commands the computer should perform.”Type of programming, programing

Word of the day · Sep 28About this word

What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing

imperative language imperative imperative programming

<language> Any programming language that specifies explicit manipulation of the state of the computer system, not to be confused with a procedural language, which specifies an explicit sequence of steps to perform.

An example of an imperative (but non-procedural) language is a data manipulation language for a relational database management system. This specifies changes to the database but does not necessarily require anyone to specify a sequence of steps.

Both contrast with declarative languages, which specify neither explicit state manipulation nor a sequence of steps.

(2007-10-02)