**Which programming paradigm emphasizes the use of functions to achieve tasks?**
The programming paradigm that emphasizes the use of functions to achieve tasks is functional programming. This paradigm treats computation as the evaluation of mathematical functions and avoids changing state or mutable data. Functional programming promotes the use of first-class and higher-order functions, enabling developers to compose complex operations from simpler functions. It enhances code readability, maintainability, and enables features like lazy evaluation and recursion. Languages such as Haskell, Scala, and JavaScript support or incorporate functional programming principles.