GUI Bloopers 2.0, 2nd Edition

Appendices

Appendix A: Glossary

For readers new to UI design, here are terms that are commonly used in the UI field.

• ■  Application, software application: software designed to help users perform a task, solve a problem, or achieve a goal. Application software contrasts with system software, which controls the internal operation of a computer. Application software is the software most computer users encounter directly. The term comes from the idea that software is applied to a task or set of tasks.
• ■  Back end: software services used by applications to provide content and task-domain logic. Back ends store and retrieve data, perform big computations, route communications, etc. Back-end software often runs on computers called servers. ...