<s>
A	O
console	B-Device
application	I-Device
or	O
command-line	B-Application
program	I-Application
is	O
a	O
computer	B-Application
program	I-Application
(	O
applications	B-Application
or	O
utilities	B-Application
)	O
designed	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
via	O
a	O
text-only	B-Application
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
,	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
text	O
terminal	B-Application
,	O
the	O
command-line	B-Application
interface	I-Application
of	O
some	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
(	O
Unix	B-Application
,	O
DOS	B-Device
,	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
or	O
the	O
text-based	B-Application
interface	I-Application
included	O
with	O
most	O
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
(	O
GUI	B-Application
)	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
Console	I-Application
in	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
the	O
Terminal	B-Application
in	O
macOS	B-Application
,	O
and	O
xterm	B-Language
in	O
Unix	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
user	O
typically	O
interacts	O
with	O
a	O
console	B-Device
application	I-Device
using	O
only	O
a	O
keyboard	B-Device
and	O
display	B-Device
screen	I-Device
,	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
GUI	B-Application
applications	B-Application
,	O
which	O
normally	O
require	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
mouse	B-Device
or	O
other	O
pointing	B-Device
device	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
console	B-Device
applications	I-Device
such	O
as	O
command	B-Application
line	I-Application
interpreters	O
are	O
command	B-Application
line	I-Application
tools	I-Application
,	O
but	O
numerous	O
text-based	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
(	O
TUI	O
)	O
programs	O
also	O
exist	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
speed	O
and	O
ease-of-use	O
of	O
GUIs	B-Application
applications	B-Application
have	O
improved	O
over	O
time	O
,	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
console	B-Device
applications	I-Device
has	O
greatly	O
diminished	O
,	O
but	O
not	O
disappeared	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
users	O
simply	O
prefer	O
console	O
based	O
applications	B-Application
,	O
while	O
some	O
organizations	O
still	O
rely	O
on	O
existing	O
console	B-Device
applications	I-Device
to	O
handle	O
key	O
data	O
processing	O
tasks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ability	O
to	O
create	O
console	B-Device
applications	I-Device
is	O
kept	O
as	O
a	O
feature	O
of	O
modern	O
programming	B-Application
environments	I-Application
such	O
as	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
and	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
on	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
simplifies	O
the	O
learning	O
process	O
of	O
a	O
new	O
programming	O
language	O
by	O
removing	O
the	O
complexity	O
of	O
a	O
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
(	O
see	O
an	O
example	O
in	O
the	O
C#	O
article	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
data	O
processing	O
tasks	O
and	O
computer	O
administration	O
,	O
these	O
programming	B-Application
environments	I-Application
represent	O
the	O
next	O
level	O
of	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
or	O
data	O
processing	O
control	O
after	O
scripting	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
an	O
application	O
is	O
only	O
going	O
to	O
be	O
run	O
by	O
the	O
original	O
programmer	O
and/or	O
a	O
few	O
colleagues	O
,	O
there	O
may	O
be	O
no	O
need	O
for	O
a	O
pretty	O
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
,	O
leaving	O
the	O
application	O
leaner	O
,	O
faster	O
and	O
easier	O
to	O
maintain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Multiple	O
libraries	B-Library
are	O
available	O
to	O
assist	O
with	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
Text	B-Application
User	I-Application
Interfaces	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
Unix	B-Application
systems	I-Application
,	O
such	O
libraries	B-Library
are	O
ncurses	B-Language
and	O
curses	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
conio.h	B-Language
is	O
an	O
example	O
of	O
such	O
library	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Console-based	O
applications	B-Application
include	O
Alpine	B-Language
(	O
an	O
e-mail	B-Protocol
client	I-Protocol
)	O
,	O
cmus	B-Language
(	O
an	O
audio	O
player	O
)	O
,	O
Irssi	B-Protocol
(	O
an	O
IRC	O
client	O
)	O
,	O
Lynx	B-Application
(	O
a	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
)	O
,	O
Midnight	B-Protocol
Commander	I-Protocol
(	O
a	O
file	B-Application
manager	I-Application
)	O
,	O
Music	B-Language
on	I-Language
Console	I-Language
(	O
an	O
audio	O
player	O
)	O
,	O
Mutt	B-Device
(	O
an	O
e-mail	B-Protocol
client	I-Protocol
)	O
,	O
nano	B-Application
(	O
a	O
text	B-Application
editor	I-Application
)	O
,	O
ne	B-Language
(	O
a	O
text	B-Application
editor	I-Application
)	O
,	O
newsbeuter	B-Language
(	O
an	O
RSS	B-Application
reader	I-Application
)	O
,	O
and	O
ranger	B-Device
(	O
a	O
file	B-Application
manager	I-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
