Dynamic programming language

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This article is about a class of programming languages. For the method for reducing the
running time of algorithms, see Dynamic programming.

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Programming paradigms
 Action
 Agent-oriented
 Array-oriented
 Automata-based
 Concurrent computing
o Relativistic programming
 Data-driven
 Declarative (contrast: Imperative)
o Functional
 Functional logic
 Purely functional
o Logic
 Abductive logic
 Answer set
 Concurrent logic
 Functional logic
 Inductive logic
o Constraint
 Constraint logic
 Concurrent constraint logic
o Dataflow
 Flow-based
 Reactive
 Functional reactive
o Ontology
 Differentiable
 Dynamic/scripting
 Event-driven
 Function-level (contrast: Value-level)
o Point-free style
 Concatenative
 Generic
 Imperative (contrast: Declarative)
 o Procedural
o Object-oriented
 Polymorphic
 Intentional
 Language-oriented
o Domain-specific
 Literate
 Natural-language programming
 Metaprogramming
o Automatic
 Inductive programming
o Reflective
 Attribute-oriented
o Macro
o Template
 Non-structured (contrast: Structured)
o Array
 Nondeterministic
 Parallel computing
o Process-oriented
 Probabilistic
 Quantum
 Set-theoretic
 Stack-based
 Structured (contrast: Non-structured)
o Block-structured
 Structured concurrency
o Object-oriented
 Actor-based
 Class-based
 Concurrent
 Prototype-based
 By separation of concerns:
 Aspect-oriented
 Role-oriented
 Subject-oriented
o Recursive
 Symbolic
 Value-level (contrast: Function-level)

 v
 t
 e

In computer science, a dynamic programming language is a class of high-level

programming languages, which at runtime execute many common programming behaviours
that static programming languages perform during compilation. These behaviors could
include an extension of the program, by adding new code, by extending objects and
definitions, or by modifying the type system. Although similar behaviors can be emulated in
nearly any language, with varying degrees of difficulty, complexity and performance costs,
dynamic languages provide direct tools to make use of them. Many of these features were
first implemented as native features in the Lisp programming language.

Most dynamic languages are also dynamically typed, but not all are. Dynamic languages are
frequently (but not always) referred to as scripting languages, although that term in its
narrowest sense refers to languages specific to a given run-time environment.

Contents
 1 Implementation
o 1.1 Eval
o 1.2 Object runtime alteration
o 1.3 Reflection
o 1.4 Macros
 2 Example code
o 2.1 Computation of code at runtime and late binding
o 2.2 Object runtime alteration
o 2.3 Assembling of code at runtime based on the class of instances
 3 Examples
 4 See also
 5 References
 6 Further reading
 7 External links

Implementation
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (October 2009)

Eval

Some dynamic languages offer an eval function. This function takes a string parameter
containing code in the language and executes it. If this code stands for an expression, the
resulting value is returned. However, Erik Meijer and Peter Drayton suggests that
programmers "use eval as a poor man's substitute for higher-order functions."[1]

Object runtime alteration

A type or object system can typically be modified during runtime in a dynamic language.
This can mean generating new objects from a runtime definition or based on mixins of
existing types or objects. This can also refer to changing the inheritance or type tree, and thus
altering the way that existing types behave (especially with respect to the invocation of
methods).
Reflection

Reflection is common in many dynamic languages, and typically involves analysis of the
types and metadata of generic or polymorphic data. It can, however, also include full
evaluation and modification of a program's code as data, such as the features that Lisp
provides in analyzing S-expressions.

Macros

A limited number of dynamic programming languages provide features which combine code
introspection (the ability to examine classes, functions, and keywords to know what they are,
what they do and what they know) and eval in a feature called macros. Most programmers
today who are aware of the term macro have encountered them in C or C++, where they are a
static feature which is built in a small subset of the language, and are capable only of string
substitutions on the text of the program. In dynamic languages, however, they provide access
to the inner workings of the compiler, and full access to the interpreter, virtual machine, or
runtime, allowing the definition of language-like constructs which can optimize code or
modify the syntax or grammar of the language.

Assembly, C, C++, early Java, and Fortran do not generally fit into this category.[clarification needed]

Example code
The following examples show dynamic features using the language Common Lisp and its
Common Lisp Object System (CLOS).

Computation of code at runtime and late binding

The example shows how a function can be modified at runtime from computed source code

; the source code is stored as data in a variable

CL-USER > (defparameter *best-guess-formula* '(lambda (x) (* x x 2.5)))
*BEST-GUESS-FORMULA*

; a function is created from the code and compiled at runtime, the function
is available under the name best-guess
CL-USER > (compile 'best-guess *best-guess-formula*)
#<Function 15 40600152F4>

; the function can be called

CL-USER > (best-guess 10.3)
265.225

; the source code might be improved at runtime

CL-USER > (setf *best-guess-formula* `(lambda (x) ,(list 'sqrt (third
*best-guess-formula*))))
(LAMBDA (X) (SQRT (* X X 2.5)))

; a new version of the function is being compiled

CL-USER > (compile 'best-guess *best-guess-formula*)
#<Function 16 406000085C>

; the next call will call the new function, a feature of late binding
CL-USER > (best-guess 10.3)
16.28573

Object runtime alteration

This example shows how an existing instance can be changed to include a new slot when its
class changes and that an existing method can be replaced with a new version.

; a person class. The person has a name.

CL-USER > (defclass person () ((name :initarg :name)))
#<STANDARD-CLASS PERSON 4020081FB3>

; a custom printing method for the objects of class person

CL-USER > (defmethod print-object ((p person) stream)
(print-unreadable-object (p stream :type t)
(format stream "~a" (slot-value p 'name))))
#<STANDARD-METHOD PRINT-OBJECT NIL (PERSON T) 4020066E5B>

; one example person instance

CL-USER > (setf *person-1* (make-instance 'person :name "Eva Luator"))
#<PERSON Eva Luator>

; the class person gets a second slot. It then has the slots name and age.
CL-USER > (defclass person () ((name :initarg :name) (age :initarg :age
:initform :unknown)))
#<STANDARD-CLASS PERSON 4220333E23>

; updating the method to print the object

CL-USER > (defmethod print-object ((p person) stream)
(print-unreadable-object (p stream :type t)
(format stream "~a age: ~" (slot-value p 'name) (slot-value p
'age))))
#<STANDARD-METHOD PRINT-OBJECT NIL (PERSON T) 402022ADE3>

; the existing object has now changed, it has an additional slot and a new
print method
CL-USER > *person-1*
#<PERSON Eva Luator age: UNKNOWN>

; we can set the new age slot of instance

CL-USER > (setf (slot-value *person-1* 'age) 25)
25

; the object has been updated

CL-USER > *person-1*
#<PERSON Eva Luator age: 25>

Assembling of code at runtime based on the class of instances

In the next example, the class person gets a new superclass. The print method gets redefined
such that it assembles several methods into the effective method. The effective method gets
assembled based on the class of the argument and the at runtime available and applicable
methods.

; the class person

CL-USER > (defclass person () ((name :initarg :name)))
#<STANDARD-CLASS PERSON 4220333E23>
; a person just prints its name
CL-USER > (defmethod print-object ((p person) stream)
(print-unreadable-object (p stream :type t)
(format stream "~a" (slot-value p 'name))))
#<STANDARD-METHOD PRINT-OBJECT NIL (PERSON T) 40200605AB>

; a person instance
CL-USER > (defparameter *person-1* (make-instance 'person :name "Eva
Luator"))
*PERSON-1*

; displaying a person instance

CL-USER > *person-1*
#<PERSON Eva Luator>

; now redefining the print method to be extensible

; the around method creates the context for the print method and it calls
the next method
CL-USER > (defmethod print-object :around ((p person) stream)
(print-unreadable-object (p stream :type t)
(call-next-method)))
#<STANDARD-METHOD PRINT-OBJECT (:AROUND) (PERSON T) 4020263743>

; the primary method prints the name

CL-USER > (defmethod print-object ((p person) stream)
(format stream "~a" (slot-value p 'name)))
#<STANDARD-METHOD PRINT-OBJECT NIL (PERSON T) 40202646BB>

; a new class id-mixin provides an id

CL-USER > (defclass id-mixin () ((id :initarg :id)))
#<STANDARD-CLASS ID-MIXIN 422034A7AB>

; the print method just prints the value of the id slot

CL-USER > (defmethod print-object :after ((object id-mixin) stream)
(format stream " ID: ~a" (slot-value object 'id)))
#<STANDARD-METHOD PRINT-OBJECT (:AFTER) (ID-MIXIN T) 4020278E33>

; now we redefine the class person to include the mixin id-mixin

CL-USER 241 > (defclass person (id-mixin) ((name :initarg :name)))
#<STANDARD-CLASS PERSON 4220333E23>

; the existing instance *person-1* now has a new slot and we set it to 42
CL-USER 242 > (setf (slot-value *person-1* 'id) 42)
42

; displaying the object again. The print-object function now has an

effective method, which calls three methods: an around method, the primary
method and the after method.
CL-USER 243 > *person-1*
#<PERSON Eva Luator ID: 42>

Examples
Popular dynamic programming languages include JavaScript, Python, Ruby, PHP, Lua and
Perl. The following are generally considered dynamic languages:

 ActionScript
 BeanShell[2]
  C# (using Reflection)
 Clojure
 CobolScript
 ColdFusion Markup Language
 Common Lisp and most other Lisps
 Dylan
 E
 Elixir
 Erlang
 FORTH
 Gambas
 GDScript
 Groovy[3]
 Java (using Reflection)
 JavaScript
 Julia
 Lua
 MATLAB / Octave
 Objective-C
 Perl
 PHP
 PowerShell
 Prolog
 Python
 R
 Raku
 Rebol
 Ruby
 Smalltalk
 SuperCollider
 Tcl
 VBScript
 Wolfram Language

See also
 Comparison of programming languages
 Name binding
 Von Neumann architecture