Icons. Types of icons
Icon – is a graphical interface element, a small picture that represents the application, file, directory, window, operating system component, device, etc. In response to a click, made with the mouse or other pointing device of input icon usually the appropriate action is performed (launch application, open the file, etc).
Icons were created in 1970 in the Research Center of Xerox in Palo Alto, to lighten the interaction with the computer for the beginners.
Types of icons
Typically, the icons are the pictures of the square format of standard sizes.
In Microsoft Windows operating systems and Windows NT the most commonly used size of icons are those with a side of 16, 32 and 48 pixels.
Nuvola icons for KDE exist in the form of PNG-images of 6 sizes, and scalable vector SVG-images.
In different media are also used icons with size of 24, 40, 60, 72, 92, 108, 128 pixels and others; vector icons (e.g. SVG).
An application can have several icons of various sizes and of different formats.
Many of today’s environment and applications can specify the default icons.
The icon for the application is selected as default, for a file – depending on the type of file (frequently used icon for the application that handles this file by default).
Sometimes the icons for image files are obtained from the file itself (for example, a smaller version of the image).
Some advanced interfaces can do the same for non-graphics files (documents, presentations).
Not all icons are static. For example an icon representing a connection to the Internet, can demonstrate whether the data currently transmitted, the icon task manager show the CPU usage, etc.
“Icon” or “sign”?
In English, such graphical interface elements are called «icon» (from the Greek. Είκων – image, symbol, icon).
With a lack of official documentation of the software in Russian language in Russian-speaking environment of computer users for badges slang designation of “ikonka” stuck (a diminutive of the icon).
This designation can not be called successful, because the concept of “icon” in Russian culture has a specific load of meaning incompatible with the concept denoted.
As an alternative, different terms are offered, but now for the symbol images in the user interface the name “icon” was fixed.
Thus, a company Microsoft in the documentation for its software calls these elements “icon”.
Semantically, the word “icon” better corresponds to the meaning, because the image is just a small symbol of the application, document, windows, etc, but it is not its meaning (the basic meaning of the word “icon”).
It is generally recommended to avoid the word “Ikonka (icon)”, and in official documents use the word “znachok (sign)”.
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