Java Programming~ OOP OOP OOP

Graphical user interface

In computing, a graphical user interface (GUI, commonly pronounced gooey is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices using images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances, office and industry equipment. A GUI represents the information and actions available to a user through graphical icons and visual indicators such as secondary notation, as opposed to text-based interfaces, typed command labels or text navigation. The actions are usually performed through direct manipulation of the graphical elements.

The term GUI is restricted to the scope of two-dimensional display screens with display resolutions able to describe generic information, in the tradition of the computer science research at the PARC (Palo Alto Research Center). The term GUI is rarely applied to other low-resolution types of interfaces that are non-generic, such as video games (where HUD is preferred), or not restricted to flat screens, like volumetric displays.


Components of GUI


The basic GUI elements are:
i) Check boxes
ii) Buttons
iii) Text boxes
iv) Label buttons
v) Radio buttons
vi) Sliders
vii) Droplists

a) Buttons and checkboxes are just what they sound like onscreen buttons and checkboxes.
The main difference between them is that buttons immediately bounce back to the up state
after they're clicked while checkboxes remain selected.

b) Radio buttons are a specific kind of button that come in groups where only one radio
button in a given group can be selected at one time.

c) Label buttons are buttons with text on them. To change the text on a label button, we must
use <button>.message (<string>).

d) Sliders consist of a bar and a tick that slides along it. You can change the size of the tick,
the size of the bar, the margin from which it can go to the edge, and the textures applied
to its tick and slider, and the orientation of the bar. Progress bars are similar, but they
contain text and have a shaded area that slides along the bar instead of a tick.

e) Text boxes are fields for users to enter typed data.

f) Drop lists are drop-down menus. We can add and clear items from a droplist.