Editing Value-level programming (section)

{{Notability|date=June 2025}}
'''Value-level programming''' refers to one of the two contrasting [[programming paradigm]]s identified by [[John Backus]] in his work on [[Program (mathematical object)|programs as mathematical objects]], the other being [[function-level programming]].<ref name="s286">{{cite web | title=Concatenative Programming | url=https://web.stanford.edu/class/ee380/Abstracts/171115-slides.pdf |publisher=Stanford University |page=16 | access-date=2025-06-01}}</ref> Backus originally used the term '''object-level programming''' but that term is now prone to confusion with [[object-oriented programming]].

Value-level programs are those that describe how to combine various ''values'' (i.e., numbers, symbols, strings, etc.) to form other values until the final ''result values'' are obtained. New values are constructed from existing ones by the application of various value-to-value functions, such as addition, concatenation, matrix inversion, and so on.

Conventional, [[von Neumann programming languages|von Neumann programs]] are value-level: [[expression (programming)|expression]]s on the right side of [[assignment statement]]s are exclusively concerned with building a value that is then to be stored.