imperative language

imperative language

[im′per·əd·iv ‚laŋ·gwij] (computer science) A programming language in which programs largely consist of a series of commands to assign values to objects.

imperative language

(language)Any programming language that specifies explicitmanipulation of the state of the computer system, not to beconfused with a procedural language, which specifies anexplicit sequence of steps to perform.

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

Both contrast with declarative languages, which specifyneither explicit state manipulation nor a sequence of steps.