I think it is fair to distinguish between syntax and semantics here. Haskell's "do" notation is frequently described as an imperative syntax for functional/dec

I think it is fair to distinguish between syntax and semantics here. Haskell's "do" notation is frequently described as an imperative syntax for functional/declarative transformations. I would put Dockerfiles in the same boat. They behave declaratively, but users can think imperatively when they write them (to a certain extent) and this is part of what makes them more accessible to newcomers. Ansible is a great example of the opposite. It looks declarative but, like you said, basically runs a bunch of scripts one after another on a system, with state and all.