Console Application uses in Real Life

Question

As part of our Programming Unit in college we are learning Procedural Programming. We are using Visual Basic and mostly doing console based applications.

After doing many different mini programs, It got me thinking how would a Console Application be used in real life or in the real world? In my opinion I don't even see myself using a console based application just because in this modern era nearly all programs/software is/are based on a Graphical User Interface.

So my questions to you guys, How would a Console Application be used in the real world? Why is there a need to create a command line interface based program? Are there any examples of great console applications out there?

Looking forward to the responses.

Thanks.

Answer 1

Console apps allow you to use words to control the computer. You use it when:

• You don't need a graphical UI
• You want something easily automatable
• You want to interact with something using words.

They are also useful for starting in programming, as writing a GUI-based application can be fairly complex for your first program, even with WinForms. It gets in the way of the true goal: teaching you how to think procedurally and how to program.

Examples of useful real-world console applications:

• tfpt is a console-only tool that provides additional features for TFS.
• The git console tool (for version control) has many, many more options and use cases than the GUI front-ends.
• I have written console programs that are executed by the windows Scheduled Programs dialog. These run at a set time every day and perform a number of complex tasks.

Answer 2

Console applications are very useful as tools. A clear advantage is that a console application can be integrated in batch scripts easily. Of course, the typical target audience of Console applications are technically savvy users.