WHAT ARE KEY TYPES OF PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES ACCORDING TO THEIR PARADIGMS, HOW MANY OF THEM SHOULD YOU LEARN?

You have probably heard that not all programming languages are the same. Take Assembler and C++ as two examples, and you will see that they are vastly different in their appearance and also in coding paradigms. So what makes coding languages different, what are their main types, and also how many of them should you learn to become a professional software developer?

Software development, using programming languages – illustrative photo. Image credit: Pxfuel, free license

The main types of programming languages according to their paradigms

Programming languages can be categorized into various paradigms based on their underlying principles and approaches to problem-solving. There are 8 main programming language types according to their paradigms, with the first four being considered the most prevalent and spanning approximately 95% of the entire coding principles:

1. Imperative programming: Focuses on describing a sequence of steps to achieve a desired outcome, often emphasizing mutable state and explicit control flow. Examples include C, Python, and Java.
2. Functional programming: Emphasizes the evaluation of mathematical functions and the avoidance of mutable state, favoring immutable data and higher-order functions. Examples include Haskell, Lisp, and Scala.
3. Object-oriented programming (OOP): Organizes software around objects that encapsulate data and behavior, promoting concepts such as inheritance, encapsulation, and polymorphism. Examples include Java, C++, and Python.
4. Metaprogramming: Involves writing programs that manipulate other programs or their representations, often used for tasks like code generation, transformation, or analysis. Examples include Lisp (with macros) and Ruby (with metaprogramming capabilities).
5. Stack-driven programming: Utilizes a stack data structure as the primary mechanism for controlling program flow and managing data, commonly used in low-level systems programming and embedded systems. Examples include Forth and PostScript.
6. Array manipulation algebra programming: Focuses on operations and transformations applied to arrays and matrices, commonly used for numerical computing and scientific computing tasks. Examples include MATLAB and APL.
7. Declarative programming: Expresses the desired behavior of a program without specifying the control flow or implementation details, allowing for a more concise and declarative style of coding. Examples include SQL (for database queries) and Prolog (for logic programming).
8. Turing machine programming: Refers to programming languages designed to simulate Turing machines or model computability and computation theory concepts. Examples include Brainfuck and Turing Machine Simulator languages.

These paradigms represent different philosophies and approaches to software development, each suited to different problem domains and preferences. Many modern programming languages incorporate elements from multiple paradigms, offering developers flexibility and versatility in solving various types of problems.