Paradigm summaries

A concise reference for the programming paradigms listed in this article.

Concurrent programming – have language constructs for concurrency, these may involve multi-threading, support for distributed computing, message passing, shared resources (including shared memory), or futures
- Actor programming – concurrent computation with actors that make local decisions in response to the environment (capable of selfish or competitive behaviour)
Constraint programming – relations between variables are expressed as constraints (or constraint networks), directing allowable solutions (uses constraint satisfaction or simplex algorithm)
Dataflow programming – forced recalculation of formulas when data values change (e.g. spreadsheets)
Declarative programming – describes what computation should perform, without specifying detailed state changes c.f. imperative programming (functional and logic programming are major subgroups of declarative programming)
Distributed programming – have support for multiple autonomous computers that communicate via computer networks
Functional programming – uses evaluation of mathematical functions and avoids state and mutable data
Generic programming – uses algorithms written in terms of to-be-specified-later types that are then instantiated as needed for specific types provided as parameters
Imperative programming – explicit statements that change a program state
Logic programming – uses explicit mathematical logic for programming
Metaprogramming – writing programs that write or manipulate other programs (or themselves) as their data, or that do part of the work at compile time that would otherwise be done at runtime
- Template metaprogramming – metaprogramming methods in which a compiler uses templates to generate temporary source code, which is merged by the compiler with the rest of the source code and then compiled
- Reflective programming – metaprogramming methods in which a program modifies or extends itself
Object-oriented programming – uses data structures consisting of data fields and methods together with their interactions (objects) to design programs
- Class-based – object-oriented programming in which inheritance is achieved by defining classes of objects, versus the objects themselves
- Prototype-based – object-oriented programming that avoids classes and implements inheritance via cloning of instances
Pipeline programming – a simple syntax change to add syntax to nest function calls to language originally designed with none
Rule-based programming – a network of rules of thumb that comprise a knowledge base and can be used for expert systems and problem deduction & resolution
Visual programming – manipulating program elements graphically rather than by specifying them textually (e.g. Simulink); also termed diagrammatic programming^[1]

Language overview

List of multi-paradigm programming languages
Language	Paradigm count	Concurrent	Constraints	Dataflow	Declarative	Distributed	Functional	Metaprogramming	Generic	Imperative	Logic	Reflection	Object-oriented	Pipelines	Visual	Rule-based	Other
Ada^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]	5	Yes ^{[a 1]}	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	No
ALF	2	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
AmigaE ^{[citation needed]}	2	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	No
APL	3	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Array (multi-dimensional)
BETA ^{[citation needed]}	3	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	No
C++	7 (15)	Yes ^[7]^[8]^[9]	Library ^[10]	Library ^[11]^[12]	Library ^[13]^[14]	Library ^[15]^[16]	Yes	Yes ^[17]	Yes ^{[a 3]}	Yes	Library ^[18]^[19]	Library ^[20]	Yes ^{[a 2]}	Yes ^[21]	No	Library ^[22]	Array (multi-dimensional; using STL)
C#	6 (7)	Yes	No	Library ^{[a 4]}	No	No	Yes ^{[a 5]}	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	Reactive ^{[a 6]}
ChucK ^{[citation needed]}	3	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	No
Claire	2	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	No
Clojure	5	Yes ^[23]^[24]	No	No	Yes	No	Yes ^[25]	Yes ^[26]	No	No	Library ^[27]	No	No	Yes ^[28]	Editor ^[29]	No	Multiple dispatch,^[30] Agents ^[31]
Common Lisp	7 (14)	Library ^[32]	Library ^[33]	Library ^[34]	Yes ^[35]	Library ^[36]	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[37]	Yes	Library ^[38]	Yes	Yes ^{[a 7]} ^{[a 2]} ^[39]	Library ^[40]	Library ^[41]	Library ^[42]	Multiple dispatch, meta-OOP system,^[43] Language is extensible via metaprogramming.
Curl	5	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes ^{[a 3]}	Yes	No	Yes	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	No
Curry	4	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
D (version 2.0) ^[44]^[45]	7	Yes ^{[a 8]}	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes ^[46] ^{[a 3]}	Yes ^{[a 3]}	Yes	No	Yes	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	No
Delphi	3	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes ^{[a 3]}	Yes	No	No	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	No
Dylan ^{[citation needed]}	3	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	No
E	3	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	No
ECMAScript^[47]^[48] (ActionScript, E4X, JavaScript, JScript)	4 (5)	Partial ^{[a 9]} ^{[a 10]}	No	No	Library ^[49]^[50]	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes ^{[a 11]}	Library ^[51]^[52]	Editor ^[53]	No	Reactive, ^{[a 12]}^[54] event driven ^{[a 13]} ^{[a 14]}
Erlang	3	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Elixir	4	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Elm	6	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes (pure) ^{[a 15]}	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Reactive
F#	7 (8)	Yes ^{[a 8]}	No	Library ^{[a 4]}	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	Reactive ^{[a 6]}
Fortran	4 (5)	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes ^{[a 15]}	No	Yes ^{[a 16]}	No	No	No	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	Array (multi-dimensional)
Go	4	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
Haskell	8 (15)	Yes	Library ^[55]	Library ^[56]	Yes	Library ^[57]	Yes (lazy) (pure) ^{[a 15]}	Yes ^[58]	Yes	Yes	Library ^[59]	No	Partial ^{[a 17]}	Yes	Yes	Library ^[60]	Literate, reactive, dependent types (partial)
Io	4	Yes ^{[a 8]}	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes ^{[a 11]}	No	No	No	No
J ^{[citation needed]}	3	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	No
Java	6	Yes	Library ^[61]	Library ^[62]	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	No
Julia	9 (17)	Yes	Library ^[63]	Library ^[64]^[65]	Library ^[66]	Yes	Yes (eager)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Library ^[67]	Yes	Yes ^{[a 18]}	Yes	No	Library ^[68]^[69]	Multiple dispatch, Array (multi-dimensional); optionally lazy^[70] and reactive (with libraries)
Kotlin	8	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
LabVIEW	4	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Lava	2	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	Yes	No	No
LispWorks (version 6.0 with support for symmetric multi-processing, rules, logic (Prolog), CORBA)	9	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	Yes	No
Lua ^{[citation needed]}	3	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes ^{[a 11]}	No	No	No	No
MATLAB	6 (10)	Toolbox ^[71]	Toolbox ^[72]	Yes ^[73]	No	Toolbox ^[74]	No	Yes ^[75]	Yes ^[76]	No	No	Yes ^[77]	Yes ^[78]	No	Yes ^[79]	No	Array (multi-dimensional)
Nemerle	7	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	No
Object Pascal	4	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	No
OCaml	4	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	No
Oz	11	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes ^{[a 2]}	Yes	No	Yes	No
Perl ^{[citation needed]}	8 (9)	Yes ^[80]	Library ^[81]	Yes ^[82]	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes ^{[a 2]}	Yes ^{[a 2]}	Yes	No	No	No
PHP^[83]^[84]^[85]	4	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	No
Poplog	3	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Prograph	3	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	Yes	No	No
Python	5 (10)	Library ^[86]^[87]	Library ^[88]	No	No	Library ^[89]	Yes	Yes ^[90]^[91]	Yes ^[92]^[93]	Yes	Library ^[94]	Yes	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	Editor ^[95]	No	Structured
R	4 (6)	Library ^[96]	No	No	No	Library ^[97]	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[98]	No	No	Array (multi-dimensional)
Racket	10	Yes ^[99]	Yes ^[100]	Yes ^[101]	No	Yes ^[102]	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Lazy ^[103]
Raku	10	Yes ^[104]	Yes ^[105]	Yes ^[106]	No	Library ^[107]	Yes	Yes ^[108]	Yes ^[109]	Yes	No	Yes ^[110]	Yes ^[111]	Yes	No	No	Multiple dispatch, lazy lists, reactive.
ROOP	3	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Ruby	5	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	No
Rust (version 1.0.0-alpha)	6	Yes ^{[a 8]}	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes ^[112]^[113]	Yes ^[114]	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Linear, affline, and ownership types
Sather ^{[citation needed]}	2	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	No
Scala^[115]^[116]	9	Yes ^{[a 8]}	No	Yes ^{[a 19]}	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	No
Simula ^{[citation needed]}	2	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	No
SISAL	3	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Spreadsheets	2	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Swift	7	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	Block-structured
Tcl with Snit extension ^{[citation needed]}	3	No	No	No	No	No	Yes ^[117]	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes ^{[a 11]} ^[118]	No	No	No	No
Visual Basic .NET	6 (7)	Yes	No	Library ^{[a 4]}	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes ^{[a 2]}	No	No	No	Reactive ^{[a 6]}
Windows PowerShell	6	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes ^{[a 2]}	Yes	No	No	No
Wolfram Language & Mathematica	13 ^[119] (14)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[120]	No	Yes	Knowledge Based

Notes

Citations

References

Jim Coplien, Multiparadigm Design for C++, Addison-Wesley Professional, 1998.

Programming paradigms (Comparison by language)

Imperative

Structured	Jackson structures Block-structured Modular Non-structured Procedural Programming in the large and in the small Design by contract Invariant-based Nested function
Object-oriented (comparison, list)	Agent Class-based Prototype-based Object-based Immutable object Persistent Uniform Function Call Syntax

Declarative

Functional (comparison)	Recursive Anonymous function (Partial application) Higher-order Purely functional Total Strict GADTs Dependent types Functional logic Point-free style Expression-oriented Applicative, Concatenative Function-level, Value-level
Dataflow	Flow-based Reactive (Functional reactive) Signals Streams Synchronous
Logic	Abductive logic Answer set Constraint (Constraint logic) Inductive logic Nondeterministic Ontology Probabilistic logic Query
DSL	Algebraic modeling Array Automata-based (Action) Command (Spacecraft) Differentiable End-user Grammar-oriented Interface description Language-oriented List comprehension Low-code Modeling Natural language Non-English-based Page description Pipes and filters Probabilistic Quantum Scientific Scripting Set-theoretic Simulation Stack-based System Tactile Templating Transformation (Graph rewriting, Production, Pattern) Visual