program

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program A set of statements that (after translation from programming-language form into executable form – see compiler) can be executed by a computer in order to produce a desired behavior from the computer. A procedural program gives a precise definition of the procedure to be followed by the computer system in order to obtain the required results. By contrast, a nonprocedural program specifies constraints that must be satisfied by the results that are produced but does not specify the procedure by which these results should be obtained; such a procedure must be determined by a problem-solving shell based on the defined constraints.

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