Multi-Paradigm Programming Languages - Essay Example

Each programming paradigm allows certain techniques and functions and forbids certain others. One example of this is that functional programming does not allow the use of side-effects and structured programming has forbidden the use of go to statement. Due to these feature programmers who are versed in one programming paradigm find it difficult to work in another. However for programmers working on that particular paradigm, the ban on certain techniques makes it easy to understand the flow of the program and its implications.

The most common types of programming paradigms are the following – Imperative Functional Logic Constraint based Object oriented Aspect Oriented However real world problems cannot be solved in one programming paradigm alone; they require a combination of different paradigms. This is where multi paradigm programming languages come into the picture. Multi paradigm languages combine the concepts and features of various programming paradigms and help the user to solve various problems which are difficult to solve by following one paradigm alone.

A programmer working in multi paradigm languages can freely mix the structures of different paradigms and can work in various styles which are disallowed in single paradigm languages. The purpose of the design of a multi-paradigm language is to allow programmers to use the best tools that are suitable for a particular job .An example of a multi-paradigm language is Oz which has been designed over a period of 10 years in order to combine seven different programming paradigms seamlessly and harmoniously with each other (Books).

Examples of other multi-paradigm languages are as follows – Two Paradigm languages – Lab View , ALF, Lava , Metaobject Three Paradigm languages - SISAL , F# , E, PHP Four Paradigm languages – Java , Python , Ruby , C++ , Leda Five-Paradigm languages – C# , Visual Badic.net , Falcon , Ada Seven – paradigm languages – Oz Nine-paradigm languages – LispWorks These languages have been most useful for design of heterogeneous systems which are large and complex. One example of such complex system is a stock market exchange or a telecommunication network which requires a large amount of work.

Although the work can also be completed by single paradigm languages but it requires a huge amount of effort and thousand of lines of coding which are difficult to maintain in the long run. Combining paradigms offers various important benefits such as a language which combines OOP and Functional programming not only reduces the problem domain and implementation gap but also brings with it mathematical rigor and robustness which is associated with functional programming (Hofstedt). This robustness is essential for concurrent programs.

The applications which are developed these days are rarely homogenous like the ones which were present earlier. Internet applications which are developed today combine different languages such as JavaScript, flash, Html and are heterogeneous in nature. These applications not only involve different languages but also the use of different paradigms - SQL is implementing the relational model and OOPS dominates the middle and UI tiers. The emergence of face book