A programming paradigm that uses statements to change a program's state, describing how a program operates through explicit commands. Programs consist of sequences of instructions that tell the computer exactly what to do and in what order.
From Latin 'imperativus' meaning commanding or authoritative. The term reflects the command-like nature of this programming style, which dominated early computing and remains common in languages like C and Assembly.
Imperative programming is like being a drill sergeant - you give the computer very specific, step-by-step commands and it follows them exactly! This is actually how computers naturally work at the hardware level, making imperative code often more efficient.
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