Difference between Procedural and Declarative Knowledge

We can express the knowledge in various forms to the inference engine in the computer system to solve the problems. There are two important representations of knowledge namely, procedural knowledge and declarative knowledge. The basic difference between procedural and declarative knowledge is that procedural knowledge gives the control information along with the knowledge, whereas declarative knowledge just provides the knowledge but not the control information to implement the knowledge.

Read through this article to find out more about procedural knowledge and declarative knowledge and how they are different from each other.

What is Procedural Knowledge?

Procedural or imperative knowledge clarifies how to perform a certain task. It lays down the steps to perform. Thus, the procedural knowledge provides the essential control information required to implement the knowledge.

Example

The following example shows how to copy an array using JavaScript in a procedural way −

var a = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
var b = [];
for(var i=0; i < a.length; i++) {
   b.push(a[i]);
}
console.log(b);

Output

[ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ]

What is Declarative Knowledge?

Declarative or functional knowledge clarifies what to do to perform a certain task. It lays down the function to perform. Thus, in the declarative knowledge, only the knowledge is provided but not the control information to implement the knowledge. Thus, in order to use the declarative knowledge, we have to add the declarative knowledge with a program which provides the control information.

Example

The following example shows how to copy an array using JavaScript in a declarative way −

var a = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
var b = a.map(function(number){
   return number*1
});
console.log(b);

Output

It will produce the following output

[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Difference between Procedural Knowledge and Declarative Knowledge

The following table highlights the important differences between Procedural Knowledge and Declarative Knowledge −

Key	Procedural Knowledge	Declarative Knowledge
Meaning	Procedural knowledge provides the knowledge of how a particular task can be accomplished.	Declarative knowledge provides the basic knowledge about something.
Alternate name	Procedural knowledge is also termed as imperative knowledge.	Declarative knowledge is also termed as functional knowledge
Basis	Procedural knowledge revolves around the "How" of the concept.	Declarative knowledge revolves around the "What" of the concept.
Communication	Procedural knowledge is difficult to communicate.	Declarative knowledge is easily communicable.
Orientation	Procedural knowledge is process-oriented.	Declarative knowledge is data-oriented.
Validation	Validation is not very easy in procedural knowledge.	Validation is quite easy in declarative knowledge.
Debugging	Debugging is not very easy in procedural knowledge.	Debugging is quite easy in declarative knowledge.
Use	Procedural knowledge is less commonly used.	Declarative knowledge is more general.
Representation	Procedural knowledge is represented by a set of rules.	Declarative knowledge is represented by production systems.
Source	Procedural knowledge is obtained from actions, experiences, subjective insights, etc.	Declarative knowledge is obtained from principles, procedures, concepts, processes, etc.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, we may conclude that procedural knowledge involves conscious perception and conscious planning in the knowledge, while declarative knowledge does not include conscious perception and planning.