Menu (computing)

A menu is a graphical user interface element which allows the user to select one among several, presumably related, choices. A common use of menus is to provide convenient access to various operations such as saving or opening a file, quitting a program, or manipulating data. Most widget toolkits provide some form of pull-down or pop-up menu. Pull-down menus are the type commonly used in menu bars (usually near the top of a window or screen), which are most often used for performing actions, whereas pop-up menus are more likely to be used for setting a value, and might appear anywhere in a window.

According to traditional human interface guidelines, menu names were always supposed to be verbs, such as "file" "edit" and so on. This has been largely ignored in subesquent UI developments. A single word verb however is sometimes unclear, and so as to allow for multiple word menu names, the idea of a vertical menu was invented, as seen in NeXTSTEP.

See also: command menu, context menu, pie menu

See also: menu (food)