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Difference between GUI and CUI
It is the operating systems that play the most important role of creating interfaces between the machine and the user. There are two type of interface that the operating systems can create which are Graphical User Interface (GUI) and Character User Interface (CUI). The fundamental difference between GUI and CUI is that the GUI uses graphics to create the interface, while CUI uses text to create interface between the machine and user.
Read this article to find out more about GUI and CUI based systems and how they are different from each other.
What is GUI?
GUI stands for Graphical User Interface. GUI is the most common type of user interface available today. It is a very user friendly because it makes use of pictures, graphics, and icons, hence why it is called 'graphical'. The GUI makes the navigation on the screen much easier by the use of pointing devices. Also, we can customize the appearance of the interface as we want. But, the downsides of the GUI are – it requires more memory space, slow speed, etc.
Windows − A rectangular area on the screen where the commonly used applications run.
Icons − A picture or symbol which is used to represent a software application or hardware device.
Menus − A list of options from which the user can choose what they require.
Pointers − A symbol such as an arrow which moves around the screen as user moves the mouse. It helps user to select objects.
What is CUI?
CUI stands for Character User Interface. CUI is a way to interact with computer programs by issuing them commands as one or more lines of text. In CUIbased systems, the user enters a command which a computer program can understand and then computer program processes the result and return the response.
Being a characterbased interface, the navigation in this interface is quite difficult. Another major drawback of CUI is that it does not support pointing devices like mouse, instead it uses keyboards only. However, the processing speed of CUI is faster than that of the GUI, and it requires less memory space.
One needs to have sufficient expertise of commands in order to use a CUIbased system, which makes it less user−friendly. Common examples of CUI include MSDOS, Windows command prompts, and UNIX.
Difference between GUI and CUI
The following table highlights all the important differences between GUI and CUI −
| Key | GUI | CUI |
|---|---|---|
| Interaction | User interacts with computer using Graphics like images, icons. | User interacts with computer using commands like text. |
| Navigation | Navigation is easy. | Navigation is difficult. |
| Peripherals used | Keyboard, mouse or any other pointing device. | Only keyboard. |
| Precision | GUI has low precision. | CUI has high precision. |
| Speed | GUI is of low speed. | CUI is of high speed. |
| Usage | Usage is easy. | Usage is difficult, requires expertise. |
| Memory requirement | High memory requirement. | Low memory requirement. |
| Flexibility | Highly flexible user interface. | Little flexible user interface. |
| Customize | GUI is highly customizable. | CUI appearance is not easily changeable. |
Conclusion
Both GUIs and CUIs have their own advantages and limitations. The most significant difference between GUI and CUI is that the GUI is an interface in which the user interacts with the computer using Graphics like images and icons, while the CUI is an interface in which the user interacts with a computer using commands like text.
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