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)