Any programming language that speCIFies explicit manipulation of the state of the computer system, not to be confused with a procedural language, which speCIFies an explicit sequence of steps to perform. An example of an imperative (but non-procedural) language is a data manipulation language for a {relational database management system}. This speCIFies changes to the database but does not necessarily require anyone to speCIFy a sequence of steps. (2003-06-23)