Console application

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Xaric, a console based IRC client, in use on Mac OS X. Shown are two IRC channels and a private conversation with the software author.

A console application is a computer program designed to be used via a text-only computer interface, such as a text terminal, the command line interface of some operating systems (Unix, DOS, etc.) or the text-based interface included with some Graphical User Interface (GUI) operating systems, such as the Win32 console in Microsoft Windows. A user typically interacts with a console application using only a keyboard and display screen, as opposed to GUI applications, which normally require the use of a mouse or other pointing device. Many console applications are command line tools, but numerous Text User Interface (TUI) programs also exist.

As the speed and ease-of-use of GUI applications have improved over time, the use of console applications has greatly diminished, but not disappeared. Some users simply prefer console based applications, while some organizations still rely on existing console applications to handle key data processing tasks.