编程语言（英语：programming language），是用来定义计算机进程的形式语言。它是一种被标准化的交流技巧，用来向计算机发出指令。一种计算机语言让进程员能够准确地定义计算机所需要使用的数据，并精确地定义在不同情况下所应当采取的行动。

最早的编程语言是在电脑发明之前产生的，当时是用来控制提花织布机及自动演奏钢琴的动作。在电脑领域已发明了上千不同的编程语言，而且每年仍有新的编程语言诞生。很多编程语言需要用指令方式说明计算的进程，而有些编程语言则属于宣告式编程，说明需要的结果，而不说明如何计算。

A programming language is a formal constructed language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs to control the behavior of a machine or to express algorithms.

The earliest known programmable machine preceded the invention of the digital computer and is the automatic flute player described in the 9th century by the brothers Musa in Baghdad, at the time a major centre of knowledge. From the early 1800s, "programs" were used to direct the behavior of machines such as Jacquard looms and player pianos. Thousands of different programming languages have been created, mainly in the computer field, and many more still are being created every year. Many programming languages require computation to be specified in an imperative form (i.e., as a sequence of operations to perform), while other languages use other forms of program specification such as the declarative form (i.e. the desired result is specified, not how to achieve it).