Glossary¶
- icon
A small picture that represents some functionality in a computer program. A user clicks on an icon to cause an action to be performed by a program.
- widget
A visual element of a graphical user interface that allows a user to give commands to an executing program. Example widgets include a
command button, aslider bar, or alist box.- graphical user interface
A user interacts with a computer program by pointing, clicking, and dragging icons and widgets in a window on a computer screen.
- GUI
An abbreviation for a “graphical user interface.”
- event-driven programming
A program that only executes tasks when a user specially requests a task.
- event loop
A built-in function of a GUI toolkit that “listens” for operating system events and then calls an appropriate event-handler for each event.
- event-handler
A function that processes an event. These functions are also called
callback functions.