Which of the following programming paradigms emphasizes the use of functions?

The focus on functions as a primary means of constructing and organizing programs is a defining characteristic of functional programming. In this paradigm, computation is treated as the evaluation of mathematical functions, emphasizing the application of functions to arguments and avoiding changing state or mutable data.

In functional programming, functions are first-class citizens, meaning they can be passed as arguments to other functions, returned as values from functions, and assigned to variables. This allows for a high level of abstraction and encourages a declarative style where the programmer describes what to achieve without explicitly detailing the control flow.

The significance of functions in this paradigm contrasts with other programming paradigms. For instance, procedural programming organizes code around procedures or routines, but it does not emphasize the mathematical and compositional rigor found in functional programming. Similarly, object-oriented programming focuses on objects and classes as the central concepts, and declarative programming prioritizes expressing logic without describing control flow, but it does not specifically emphasize functions.