Graphical user interface: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|User interface allowing interaction through graphical icons and visual indicators}}
{{Redirect|GUI|other uses|Gui (disambiguation)}}

{{More citations needed|date=May 2022}}

[[File:Example of a GUI.png|thumb|240px|A graphical user interface (GUI) showing various elements: radio buttons, checkboxes, and other elements. The image shown uses the [[KDE]] [[desktop environment]].]]

A '''graphical user interface''', or '''GUI'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|u:|i}},<ref>{{cite book |last=Wells |first=John |author-link=John C. Wells |title=Longman Pronunciation Dictionary |publisher=Pearson Longman |edition=3rd |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4058-8118-0}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/gui|title=How to pronounce GUI in English|website=Cambridge Dictionary |language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-03}}</ref> {{Respell|GOO|ee}}; {{IPAc-en|ˈ|dʒ|iː|j|uː|aɪ}}, {{Respell|JEE|YOO|AI}}<ref>{{Cite MW|GUI|access-date=2024-12-07}}</ref>}}, is a form of [[user interface]] that allows [[user (computing)|users]] to [[human–computer interaction|interact with electronic devices]] through [[Graphics|graphical]] [[icon (computing)|icons]] and visual indicators such as [[secondary notation]]. In many applications, GUIs are used instead of [[text-based user interface|text-based UI]]s, which are based on typed command labels or text navigation. GUIs were introduced in reaction to the perceived steep [[learning curve]] of [[command-line interface]]s (CLIs),<ref name="computerhope.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000619.htm|title=Command line vs. GUI|website=Computer Hope |language=en|access-date=2020-04-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2007-03-12 |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/mscom/the-gui-versus-the-command-line-which-is-better-part-1 |title=The GUI versus the Command Line: Which is better? (Part 1) |department=Microsoft.com Operations |website=[[Microsoft Learn]] |access-date=2024-01-30 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-03-26 |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/mscom/the-gui-versus-the-command-line-which-is-better-part-2 |title=The GUI versus the Command Line: Which is better? (Part 2) |department=Microsoft.com Operations |website=[[Microsoft Learn]] |access-date=2024-01-30}}</ref> which require commands to be typed on a [[computer keyboard]].

The actions in a GUI are usually performed through [[direct manipulation interface|direct manipulation]] of the graphical elements.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/graphical_user_interface.htm|title=Graphical user interface|website=ScienceDaily|language=en|access-date=2019-05-09}}</ref><ref>Levy, Steven. "[https://www.britannica.com/technology/graphical-user-interface Graphical User Interface (GUI)]". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2019-06-12.</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/44001/gui |title=GUI |access-date=2019-06-12|encyclopedia=PC Magazine Encyclopedia. pcmag.com}}</ref> Beyond computers, GUIs are used in many handheld [[mobile device]]s such as [[MP3]] players, portable media players, gaming devices, [[smartphone]]s and smaller household, office and [[Distributed control system|industrial controls]]. The term ''GUI'' tends not to be applied to other lower-[[display resolution]] [[User interface#Types|types of interfaces]], such as [[video game]]s (where [[Heads-up display (video games)|head-up displays]] (''HUDs'')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060203/wilson_01.shtml|title=Off with Their HUDs!: Rethinking the Heads-Up Display in Console Game Design|author=Greg Wilson|year=2006|work=[[Gamasutra]]|url-status=alivedead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100119031340/http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060203/wilson_01.shtml|archive-date=January 19, 2010|access-date=February 14, 2006}}</ref> are preferred), or not including flat screens like [[volumetric display]]s<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.linfo.org/gui.html |title=GUI definition |access-date=12 November 2008 |work=Linux Information Project |date=October 1, 2004}}</ref> because the term is restricted to the scope of [[Two-dimensional Euclidean space|2D]] display screens able to describe generic information, in the tradition of the [[computer science]] research at the [[PARC (company)|Xerox Palo Alto Research Center]].

== GUI and interaction design ==

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== Examples ==

<gallery mode="nolines" widths="180px180" heights="180" caption="Sample graphical environments">

File:GNOME Shell.png|[[GNOME Shell]]

File:KDE_Plasma_6KDE Plasma 6.3_desktop_screenshot3.webp6 screenshot.png|[[KDE Plasma 6]]

File:Ubuntu Mate 18.04.1 with MATE 1.20.1.png|[[MATE (software)|MATE]]

File:Wayland demo 2.png|Windows on an example [[Wayland (display server protocol)#Wayland compositors|Wayland compositor]]