A graphical user interface combines visual design with programming functions. It, therefore, offers buttons, drop-down menus, navigation fields, search fields, symbols, and widgets. GUI developers prioritize user-friendliness. Typical GUI components include:
- Entry fields
- Windows
- Canvases
- Frames
- Buttons
- Write fields
- Text fields
The recycling bin is a good example of an element found in most operating systems. It’s represented by a trash can on both Windows and Mac operating systems. This allows the user to immediately recognize what the recycling bin is for: deleting documents and files.
When writing GUIs, developers utilize event-based programming since they’re unable to predict which actions the user will perform. For this reason, GUIs cannot be programmed linearly. They have to be written so that a command is only executed once the user provides the right signal.