GUI vs CLI in Computer Networking

CLI is the word form used for Command Line Interface. CLI permits users to put in writing commands associate degree exceedingly in a terminal or console window to interact with an operating system and GUI stands for Graphical User Interface. GUI permits users to use the graphics to interact with an operating system. In the graphical user interface, menus are provided such as windows, scrollbars, buttons, wizards, painting pictures, alternative icons, etc. It’s intuitive, simple to find out, and reduces psychological feature load.

In this article, we will see the difference between GUI and  CLI in computer networking.

GUI in Networking:

GUI stands for Graphical User Interface. It is a user interface that allows users to interact with network devices using a mouse and keyboard through graphical icons. There are many network engineers who like GUIs, and on the other hand, some engineers don’t like GUIs either. A graphical user interface is easier to use than a command-line interface because learning commands or using them to solve small things is difficult and time-consuming.

• It requires pointing devices like a Mouse for selecting and choosing items.
• In graphics, user interface spelling mistakes and typo errors are avoided.
• Network engineers can observe and operate different things at the same time with the graphical user interface.
• Graphics User Interface requires more memory.

CLI in Networking:

CLI stands for Command Line Interface. It is a user interface that allows users to interact with network devices through commands using only the keyboard. There are many network engineers who prefer the command line interface because of its faster processing speed than the graphical user interface. In the networking world, not all problems can be solved through a graphical user interface. Therefore, engineers must use the command line interface to solve problems, not the graphical user interface.

• It does not require pointing devices like a Mouse for selecting and choosing items. It only needs a keyboard.
• In the command line interface, spelling and typo errors cannot be avoided.
• The command-line interface is harder to use than the graphical user interface.
• The command-line interface requires less memory.

Difference between GUI vs CLI in Networking:

S.NO	Graphics User Interface	Command Line Interface
1	Graphics User Interface consumes more memory and requires a mouse and keywords.	It takes up less memory and required only a keyboard.
2	The processing speed of the graphical user interface is slower than that of the command-line interface.	The processing speed of the command-line interface is much faster than that of the graphical user interface.
3	In Graphics User Interface we have graphics and menus which help us in managing all the functions.	In the command-line interface, we don’t have graphics and menus, so we have to write commands for each function we want to execute.
4	In graphics, user interface spelling mistakes and typing errors are avoided.	Spelling and typing errors are unavoidable in the command line interface.
5	Graphics User Interface is user-friendly and it is easy to work on the graphical user interface.	Command Line Interface is not user-friendly and more difficult to use than the Graphics User Interface.

As per our requirement, we can switch from Graphics User Interface to Command Line Interface or Command Line Interface to Graphics User Interface to solve problems because some problems can be easily solved with Graphics User Interface or some problems required Command Lines Interface.