Three types of user interfaces are command driven, menu driven interface and graphical user interface. A command line interface is basically just a plain screen, usually white text on a black background, like MS-DOS or the Command Prompt in Windows, where a user can type commands into the input. In general, a CLI requires the user to know their material for it to be effective. The CLI offers users tremendous elasticity in that a single command can be executed with a number of arguments, but the effectiveness is directly proportional to the number of commands and arguments for a command that the user is aware of. Additionally, the CLI may sporadically present some actions that are not fully available in a GUI. For example, the DOS command "ren *.txt *.bak" will change the extension of all .TXT files to .BAK, leaving the file name intact. Batch renaming of this kind is not possible via the GUI. Finally, CLI commands and arguments can be used to create scripts, such as a bash shell script or a DOS batch file. If the user knows the exact commands needed to perform an action, this series of encoded events can be kept in a single executable text file. The advantages of the CLI are that they allow you to control every aspect of your computer. Once learned properly, it's quick. It lets you do things at different times, like setting a time for a download script. Everything is located in a central location. The CLI is also useful for speed if you have a slower computer. Some of the disadvantages of the CLI are that there is a lot of information to learn and it is not a graphical user interface. Many of the advantages of the interface are mainly for Linux and now also for Windows. A menu-driven interface...... middle of paper ......much more visually instinctive, new users almost always learn this interface faster than a CLI. However the most efficient in my opinion would be the CLI. Command line users only need to use the keyboard to navigate the interface. Furthermore, CLIs only require the user to execute a few lines to perform a task. GUIs use mouse and keyboard for navigation and control, and an operating system or file system that uses a GUI will be much slower than that of a user working with the command line. A computer that uses only the command line requires much less computer system resources than a GUI. While a GUI allows the user to create shortcuts, tasks, or other similar actions, it doesn't compare to what's available via a command line. Using a command line interface allows a user to script a sequence of commands to perform a task or run a program.