GUI = Graphical User Interface; GDI = ???

Hello.
I was wondering about those to ummm ‘things’.
What do they usually stand for and when is the appropriate time to use those expressions?
Thanks for your help!

GDI = Graphics Device Interface, I think

Thus, it is entirely different from a GUI.

Hope that helps.

Edit: In case that isn’t clear, the GDI would be a hardware abstraction layer

[This message has been edited by yakuza (edited 11-11-2002).]

Umm allright. That is some help thanks!

Still, if you have more detailed explanations I’m eager to hear it.

Well, the way I understand it:

A GUI is a very general representation of any graphical interface between a human and a piece of software. Although perhaps the hardware buttons on your ATM at the bank are considered a GUI…

Whereas GDI is a device-independent interface to graphics hardware.

Here’s a link to the MSDN which might explain GDI better. http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/gdi/wingdistart_9ezp.asp?frame=true

Hope this helps

To further clarify, a GDI is a set of functions and/or objects (i.e., code) that control the operation of a graphics device, such as a monitor, and a GUI is windows, buttons, sliders, text boxes, etc.