imperative programming ⇝

imperative language

<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.

Last updated: 2007-10-02

Nearby terms:

imperative ♦ imperative language ♦ imperative programming ♦ Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine

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Giuseppe Macario · Feb 26, 2025

This definition is incorrect. Procedural programming is a subtype of imperative programming, so a procedural language is necessarily imperative. In both paradigms, state manipulation occurs by specifying a sequence of steps.

Besides, SQL is a declarative language and cannot be classified as an imperative language in any way. Therefore, the second and third paragraphs are also incorrect.