Multi-paradigm programming language

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A multiparadigm programming language is a programming language that supports more than one programming paradigm. It allows, as described by Bjarne Stroustrup, "a program using more than one programming style". The design goal of such languages is to allow programmers to use the best tool for a job, admitting that no one paradigm solves all problems in the easiest or most efficient way.

The most ambitious example is Oz, which has subsets that are a logic language (Oz descends from logic programming), a functional language, an object-oriented language, a dataflow concurrent language, and more. Oz was designed over a ten-year period to combine in a harmonious way concepts that are traditionally associated with different programming paradigms.

Contents

1 Multiparadigm languages

1.1 Two paradigms
1.2 Three paradigms
1.3 Four paradigms
1.4 Five paradigms
1.5 Eight paradigms

2 See also
3 References

Multiparadigm languages

Languages can be grouped by the number and types of paradigms supported.

Two paradigms

dataflow, visual
*LabVIEW
functional, imperative
*APL
functional, logic
*ALF
functional, object-oriented (class-based)
*Common Lisp
*Dylan
*Sather
functional, visual
*Spreadsheets
imperative, object-oriented (class-based)
*PHP

Three paradigms

concurrent, dataflow, functional
* SISAL
concurrent, functional, logic
* Curry
concurrent, imperative, object-oriented (class-based)
*ChucK
dataflow, object-oriented (class-based), visual
* Prograph
functional, imperative, object-oriented (class-based)
* BETA
* J
* Perl
* Pliant
* Python
* Tcl (class-based with the itcl extension, object-based with the xotcl extension, prototype-based with the snit extension)
functional, imperative, object-oriented (prototype-based)
* JavaScript
* Lua
* Tcl (the snit extension)
generic (template metaprogramming), imperative, object-oriented (class-based)
* C++
* D

Four paradigms

functional, generic (template metaprogramming), imperative, object-oriented (class-based)
* Objective Caml
functional, imperative, actor, object-oriented (prototype-based)
* Io
functional, imperative, concurrent, object-oriented (class-based)
* Ruby
functional, imperative, logic, object-oriented (class-based)
* Leda
functional, imperative, object-oriented (prototype-based), dialected
* REBOL
imperative, logic, object-oriented (class-based), rule-based
* ROOP

Five paradigms

concurrent, distributed, generic, imperative, object-oriented (class-based)
* Ada

Eight paradigms

concurrent, constraint, dataflow, distributed, functional (evaluation: eager, lazy), imperative, logic, object-oriented (class-based)
* Oz
** Mozart Programming System a multiplatform Oz

References

Multiparadigm Design for C++, by Jim Coplien, 1998.
Concepts, Techniques, and Models of Computer Programming, by Peter Van Roy and Seif Haridi, 2004.

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