Question

What factors should you consider when choosing between a console application and a GUI application?

Answer 1

First, who is the target audience for the application? Most non-technical users are unfamiliar with console or command line interfaces. Console apps are usually OK for technical users, since they are used to legacy console applications.

Second, what platform will the application run on? A console app may be a good way of keeping a consistent UI across platforms. Most platforms have very different GUI styles. I also assume this will run on Windows or a *nix where console apps are supported.

Third, what are you trying to achieve? For example, if you want to focus on an unobtrusive UI, many platforms have ways of achieving this, such as the Windows task tray or the Mac menu bar. A console app may not be the best solution.

If you want as few lines of source code as possible, a console app may not give you that. Many GUI development environments have GUI editors or helpers that make writing GUIs relatively straight forward. Console app libraries, by comparison, have not received the same attention.

Do you want to write a console app for the sake of writing a console app? You could write the application as a library, keeping the UI separate. Afterwards, you write a console app as one UI over the app for quick development then, when you have a better idea of the features and design, invest time in a more robust, feature rich GUI.

Ultimately, particularly if this is freeware, maybe experiment with a console UI or with both. Release it with the product and see who uses it. Maybe people might like it or parts of it.