Comparison of multi-paradigm programming languages

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

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 behavior)
• 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 a computation should perform, without specifying detailed state changes c.f. imperative programming (functional and logic programming are major subgroups of declarative programing)
• 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 templates are used by a compiler 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	Num­ber of Para­digms	Con­cur­rent	Con­straints	Data­flow	De­clar­at­ive	Dis­trib­uted	Func­tion­al	Meta­pro­gram­ming	Gen­er­ic	Im­per­at­ive	Lo­gic	Re­flec­tion	Ob­ject-ori­ented	Pipe­lines	Visu­al	Rule-based	Oth­er para­digms
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	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	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	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	5	Library[32]	Library[33]	Library[34]	Yes[35]	Library[36]	Yes	Yes	Yes[37]	Yes	Library[38]	Yes	Yes (multiple dispatch, method combinations)[39][a 2]	Library[40]	No	Library[41]	Multiple dispatch, meta-OOP system[42], 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)[43][44]	6	Yes[a 7]	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes[45][a 3]	Yes[a 3]	Yes	No	No	Yes[a 2]	No	No	No	No
Dylan	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[46][47] (ActionScript, E4X, JavaScript, JScript)	4 (5)	partial (promises, native extensions)[a 8]	No	No	Library[48][49][50]	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes[a 9]	Library[51][52]	Editor[53]	No	reactive[a 10][54], event driven[a 11][a 12]
Embarcadero Delphi	3	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes[a 3]	Yes	No	No	Yes[a 2]	No	No	No	No
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	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	reactive
F#	7 (8)	Yes[a 7]	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 13]	No	Yes[a 14]	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)	Yes[58]	Yes	Yes	Library[59]	No	Immutable	Yes	Yes	Library[60]	literate, reactive, dependent types (partial)
Io	4	Yes[a 7]	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes[a 9]	No	No	No	No
J	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 (multiple dispatch, not traditional single)	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	3	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes[a 9]	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	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
Raku	10	Yes[83]	Yes[84]	Yes[85]	No	Library[86]	Yes	Yes[87]	Yes[88]	Yes	No	Yes[89]	Yes[90]	Yes	No	No	Multiple dispatch, lazy lists, reactive.
PHP[91][92][93]	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[94][95]	Library[96]	No	No	Library[97]	Partial	Yes[98][99]	Yes[100][101]	Yes	Library[102]	Yes	Yes[a 2]	No	Editor[103]	No	structured
R	4	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes[104]	No	No	Array (multi-dimensional)
Racket	6	Yes[105]	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
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 7]	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes[106][107]	Yes[108]	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	linear, affline, and ownership types
Sather	2	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes[a 2]	No	No	No	No
Scala[109][110]	9	Yes[a 7]	No	Yes[a 15]	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes[a 2]	No	No	No	No
Simula	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	3	No	No	No	No	No	Yes[111]	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes[a 9][112]	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[113] (14)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes[114]	No	Yes	Knowledge Based

See also

• Programming paradigm
• Categorical list of programming languages
• Domain-specific programming language
• Domain-specific multimodeling

Notes

1. rendezvous and monitor-like based
2. Class-based
3. Template metaprogramming
4. using TPL Dataflow
5. only lambda support (lazy functional programming)
6. using Reactive Extensions (Rx)
7. actor programming
8. using Node.js' cluster module or child_process.fork method, web workers in the browser, etc.
9. Prototype-based
10. using Reactive Extensions (RxJS)
11. in Node.js via their events module
12. in browsers via their native EventTarget API
13. purely functional
14. parameterized classes
15. Akka Archived 2013-01-19 at the Wayback Machine

Citations

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5. Ada Reference Manual, ISO/IEC 8652:2005(E) Ed. 3, Section 6: Subprograms
6. Ada Reference Manual, ISO/IEC 8652:2005(E) Ed. 3, 3.9 Tagged Types and Type Extensions
7. Thread support
8. Atomics support
9. Memory model
10. Gecode
11. SystemC
12. Boost.Iostreams
13. Boolinq
14. AraRat
15. OpenMPI
16. Boost.MPI
17. Boost.MPL
18. LC++
19. Castor Archived 2013-01-25 at the Wayback Machine
20. Reflect Library
21. N3534
22. Boost.Spirit
23. Clojure - Concurrent Programming
24. Clojure - core.async
25. Clojure - Functional Programming
26. Clojure - Macros
27. Clojure - core.logic
28. Clojure - Threading Macros Guide
29. "Light Table". 2019-04-08.
30. Multimethods and Hierarchies
31. Agents and Asynchronous Actions
32. many concurrency paradigms implemented as language extensions
33. constraint programming inside CL through extensions
34. dataflow extension
35. by creating DSLs using the built-in metaprogramming; also see note on functional, constraint and logic paradigms, which are part of declarative
36. MPI, etc via language extensions
37. template metaprogramming using macros (see C++)
38. Prolog implemented as a language extension
39. Common Lisp Object System see Wikipedia article on CLOS, the Common Lisp Object System.
40. implemented by the user via a short macro, example of implementation:
41. rule-based programming extension
42. through the Meta Object Protocol
43. D Language Feature Table
44. Phobos std.algorithm
45. D language String Mixins
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55. Prolog embedding
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57. Cloud Haskell
58. "Template Haskell - HaskellWiki".
59. "Logict: A backtracking logic-programming monad".
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69. "GitHub - gitfoxi/Parsimonious.jl: A PEG parser generator for Julia". 2017-08-03.
70. Lazy https://github.com/MikeInnes/Lazy.jl
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79. "Simulink". mathworks.com. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
80. interpreter based threads
81. Moose
82. Higher Order Perl
83. Channels and other mechanisms
84. "Class Signature".
85. Feed operator
86. https://github.com/perl6/doc/issues/1744#issuecomment-360565196 Cro module
87. "Meta-programming: What, why and how". 2011-12-14.
88. https://perl6advent.wordpress.com/2009/12/18/day-18-roles/ Parametrized Roles
89. "Meta-object protocol (MOP)".
90. https://docs.perl6.org/language/classtut Classes and Roles
91. PHP Manual, Chapter 17. Functions
92. PHP Manual, Chapter 19. Classes and Objects (PHP 5)
93. PHP Manual, Anonymous functions
94. "Parallel Processing and Multiprocessing in Python". wiki.python.org. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
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101. "PEP 484 -- Type Hints". python.org. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
102. "PyDatalog". Retrieved 22 October 2016.
103. "Light Table". 2019-04-08.
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105. Racket Guide: Concurrency and Synchronization
106. "The Rust macros guide". Rust. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
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108. The Rust Reference §6.1.3.1
109. An Overview of the Scala Programming Language
110. Scala Language Specification
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114. External Programs, Wolfram Language Documentation.

References

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