Procedural programming can sometimes be used as a synonym for imperative programming (specifying the steps the program must take to reach the desired state), but can also refer (as in this article) to a programming paradigm, derived from structured programming, based upon the concept of the procedure call. Procedures, also known as routines, subroutines, methods, or functions (not to be confused with mathematical functions, but similar to those used in functional programming), simply contain a series of computational steps to be carried out. Any given procedure might be called at any point during a program's execution, including by other procedures or itself. A list of instructions telling a computer, step-by-step, what to do, usually having a linear order of execution from the first statement to the second and so forth with occasional loops and branches. Procedural programming languages include C, C++, Fortran, Pascal, and Basic.
Read more about Procedural Programming: Procedures and Modularity, Comparison With Imperative Programming, Comparison With Object-oriented Programming, Comparison With Functional Programming, Comparison With Logic Programming
Famous quotes containing the word programming:
“If there is a price to pay for the privilege of spending the early years of child rearing in the driver’s seat, it is our reluctance, our inability, to tolerate being demoted to the backseat. Spurred by our success in programming our children during the preschool years, we may find it difficult to forgo in later states the level of control that once afforded us so much satisfaction.”
—Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)