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In computing, an icon is a pictogram displayed on a computer screen in order to help the user navigate a computer system or mobile device. The icon itself is a quickly comprehensible symbol of a software tool, function, or a data file, accessible on the system and is more like a traffic sign than a detailed illustration of the actual entity it represents. It can serve as an electronic hyperlink or file shortcut to access the program or data. The user can activate an icon using a mouse, pointer, finger, or recently voice commands. Their placement on the screen, also in relation to other icons, may provide further information to the user about their usage.〔 In activating an icon, the user can move directly into and out of the identified function without knowing anything further about the location or requirements of the file or code. Icons as parts of the graphical user interface of the computer system, in conjunction with windows, menus and a pointing device (mouse), belong to the much larger topic of the history of the graphical user interface that has largely supplanted the text-based interface for casual use. == Overview == Graphically, the icon is a stylized picture of objects that users are familiar with from office environment or from other professional arenas. One group of icons was taken from the symbols found across all electronic devices, such as the power on/off symbol and the USB icon. Another group is metaphorically representing desktop objects from the 1980s office environment. A third group of icons are the brand icons used to identify commercial software programs. These commercial icons serve as functional links on the system to the program or data files created by a specific software provider. Although icons are usually depicted in graphical user interfaces, icons are sometimes rendered in a TUI using special characters such as MouseText or PETSCII. The design of all computer icons is constricted by the limitations of the device display. They are limited in size, with the standard size about a thumbnail for both desktop computer systems and mobile devices. They are frequently scalable, as they are displayed in different positions in the software. The colors used, of both the image and the icon background, should stand out on different system backgrounds. The detailing of the icon image needs to be simple, remaining recognizable in varying graphical resolutions and screen sizes. Computer icons are by definition language-independent; they do not rely on letters or words to convey their meaning. These visual parameters place rigid limits on the design of icons, frequently requiring the skills of a graphic artist in their development. Because of their condensed size and versatility, computer icons have become a mainstay of user interaction with electronic media. Icons also provide rapid entry into the system functionality. On most systems, users can create and delete, replicate, select, click or double-click standard computer icons and drag them to new positions on the screen to create a customized user environment.〔''ICT Pictograms, Icons and Symbols'', (), 10 May 2011〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Icon (computing)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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