Interface as a mediator

Ok people,

This is my take on 'interface as a mediator'.

For computer users to interact with the actual computer device, they need to use an interface that acts as a mediator.
All computer systems including hand held computers require an operating system.

This operating system (OS) acts as the main software that coordinates all the hardware including the memory, the CPU, and all the resources of the computer (mediator). The OS is a host for different applications that run on the computer; hence the application software that are to be run on the operating system host ought to be compatible with the OS.

A variety of services are offered to application programs by operating systems. These services are accessed by application programs through a set of functions and procedures provided by the OS, called the Application Programming Interface (API).
By requesting these services, application programs can send parameters to the OS to be processed, and then returned as results. Most of the times, the interaction of the user with the operating system takes place by the means of a user interface (UI). As an example we can name an old command-typing interface. These days most user interfaces are however so much easier to use. Operating systems like Mac or windows use a Graphical User Interface (GUI), which makes computers significantly more user friendly and makes their use so much easier. The user interface acts as a mediator to use application system easily to surf the web or type a Word document.
This was basically what was covered in week 2 of the COMP1900 course at the Uni of Qld.


Sina