language Any programming language in which sections of
source code contained within pairs of matching
delimiters such as "" and "" (e.g. in
C) or "begin" and "end" (e.g.
Algol) are executed as a single unit. A block of code may be the body of a
subroutine or
function, or it may be controlled by conditional execution (if statement) or repeated execution (while statement, for statement, etc.).
In all but the most primitive block structured languages a
variable's
scope can be limited to the block in which it is declared.
Block-structured languages support
structured programming where each block can be written without detailed knowledge of the inner workings of other blocks, thus allowing a
top-down design approach.
See also
abstract data type,
module.
(2004-09-29)