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The need for and characteristics of a variety of programming paradigms

Need for and characteristics of a variety of programming paradigms

1.2.4 Types of Programming Language

Practise exam questions

Types of Programming Language — Note 1 of 5

Candidates need to understand that there are a variety of types of programming paradigms such as procedural, OOP, low-level, and that each has its strengths and weaknesses in specific scenarios, topics or areas.

What you need to know

A programming paradigm is a style or approach to programming. Different paradigms suit different types of problem, so a variety of paradigms exists, and many modern languages support more than one.

What to know

  • Procedural (imperative): the program is a sequence of instructions, organised into procedures and functions, that change the program's state. Examples: Python, C, Pascal.
  • Object-oriented: the program is built from objects, created from classes, that combine data (attributes) and behaviour (methods). Examples: Java, C#, Python.
  • Low-level: assembly language and machine code, which give direct control of the processor and memory.
  • Declarative: the programmer states WHAT the result should be rather than HOW to achieve it. Examples: SQL, and logic languages such as Prolog.
  • Functional: programs are built from functions that return values without side effects. Example: Haskell.
  • The need for different paradigms: some problems are naturally modelled one way, e.g. OOP suits systems with many interacting real-world entities; SQL suits querying data; low-level suits hardware control.

Key terms

Programming paradigm

A style of programming that determines how a program is structured and how a problem is approached.

Exam technique

  • Tip:Be ready to state which paradigm suits a given scenario and justify it.

Ready to test yourself?

Practise 1.2.4 questions
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Back to Types of Programming Language

Types of Programming Language

Note 1 of 5

  1. 1The need for and characteristics of a variety of programming paradigms
  2. 2Procedural languages
  3. 3Assembly language and the Little Man Computer instruction set
  4. 4Modes of addressing memory: immediate, direct, indirect and indexed
  5. 5Object-oriented languages: classes, objects, methods, attributes, inheritance, encapsulation, polymorphism
Topic overview