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Programming in Linux Part VI
Linux Programming Interfaces
As defined at the beginning of this chapter, a programming interface refers to the rules or methods
followed to accomplish a particular task. Like programming environments, programming interfaces
are usually thought of as either graphical or command line.
Graphical interfaces use the X Window System to receive and process user input and display information.
Command-line interfaces, sometimes referred to as text-mode user interfaces (TUIs), are
strictly text-based and do not require a windowing system to run. Thanks to the X Window System,
however, you can also execute CLI-based programs in terminal emulators running on top of X.
There also is a third type of interface: an application programming interface, or API. This section of
the chapter looks at the ncurses library used to create text-mode user interfaces, examines some of
the popular graphical interfaces in use today, and describes a small set of the most popular APIs
used by Linux programmers.
Creating Command-Line Interfaces
There are three primary means of creating programs that interact with users at the command line.
Two use libraries of screen manipulation routines, S-Lang and ncurses, to create TUIs, and the
third just uses standard input and standard output, conventionally known as stdin and stdout,
respectively.
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