How to distinguish paradigms of object-oriented, functional, and imperative programming, and what are their key differences?

Programming paradigms differ in approaches to code organization and problem solving:

• Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) is built around objects — entities that combine data and methods to operate on them. Main principles: encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism. Example: class Car with methods drive() and properties color.

• Functional Programming (FP) focuses on pure functions that have no side effects and always return the same result for the same inputs. Uses higher-order functions, immutability, and recursion. Example: map function for list transformation.

• Imperative Programming describes a sequence of steps that change the program's state. This is a traditional style using loops, conditions, and assignments.

Key differences:

• OOP organizes code around objects and their interactions.
• FP revolves around computations using functions without changing state.
• Imperative is about step-by-step state changes and flow control.

Example in Python:

# OOP
class Counter:
    def __init__(self):
        self.count = 0
    def increment(self):
        self.count += 1

# FP
def increment(x):
    return x + 1

# Imperative
count = 0
count += 1