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}}</ref> C has statements that may generate a single machine instruction.{{efn|[[Operators in C and C++|Operators]] like <code>x++</code> will usually compile to a single instruction.}} Moreover, an [[optimizing compiler]] might overrule the programmer and produce fewer machine instructions than statements. Today, an entire [[programming paradigm|paradigm]] of languages fill the [[imperative programming|imperative]], ''third generation'' spectrum.
* The [[Fourth-generation programming language|fourth generation of programming language]] emphasizes what output results are desired, rather than how programming statements should be constructed.<ref name="pis-ch4-p160"/> [[Declarative programming|Declarative languages]] attempt to limit [[Side effect (computer science)|side effects]] and allow programmers to write code with relatively few errors.<ref name="pis-ch4-p160"/> One popular ''fourth generation'' language is called [[SQL|Structured Query Language]] (SQL).<ref name="pis-ch4-p160"/> [[Database]] developers no longer need to process each database record one at a time. Also, a simple [[Select (SQL)|select statement]] can generate output records without having to understand how they are retrieved.
===Imperative languages===
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