泛型进程设计是进程设计语言的一种风格或范式。允许进程员在强类型进程设计语言中编写代码时使用一些以后才指定的类型，在实例化时（instantiate）作为参数指明这些类型。各种进程设计语言和其编译器、运行环境对泛型的支持均不一样。Ada, Delphi, Eiffel, Java, C#, F#, Swift, and Visual Basic .NET称之为泛型（generics）；ML, Scala and Haskell称之为参数多态（parametric polymorphism）；C++与D称之为模板。具有广泛影响的1994年版的《Design Patterns》一书称之为参数化类型（parameterized type）。

In the simplest definition, generic programming is a style of computer programming in which algorithms are written in terms of types to-be-specified-later that are then instantiated when needed for specific types provided as parameters. This approach, pioneered by ML in 1973, permits writing common functions or types that differ only in the set of types on which they operate when used, thus reducing duplication. Such software entities are known as generics in Ada, Delphi, Eiffel, Java, C#, F#, Objective-C, Swift, and Visual Basic .NET; parametric polymorphism in ML, Scala, Haskell (the Haskell community also uses the term "generic" for a related but somewhat different concept) and Julia; templates in C++ and D; and parameterized types in the influential 1994 book Design Patterns. The authors of Design Patterns note that this technique, especially when combined with delegation, is very powerful but that "[dynamic], highly parameterized software is harder to understand than more static software."