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Caret vs Cursor - What's the difference?

caret | cursor |

In graphical user interface terms the difference between caret and cursor

is that caret is an indicator, often a blinking line or bar, indicating where the next insertion or other edit will take place. Also called a cursor while cursor is an indicator, often a blinking line or bar, indicating where the next insertion or other edit will take place. Also referred to as "the caret".

As nouns the difference between caret and cursor

is that caret is a mark: ⟨  ⟩ used by writers and proof readers to indicate that something is to be inserted in the place marked by the caret while cursor is a part of any of several scientific instruments that moves back and forth to indicate a position.

As a verb cursor is

to navigate by means of the cursor keys.

caret

English

Etymology 1

From the (etyl) .

Noun

(en noun)
  • A mark: ?  ? used by writers and proof readers to indicate that something is to be inserted in the place marked by the caret.
  • (graphical user interface) An indicator, often a blinking line or bar, indicating where the next insertion or other edit will take place. Also called a cursor.
  • (non-standard) A .
  • * 1944 , Maro Beath Jones, Inclusive Uniform Alphabet for Russian, Bulgarian, Serb-Croatian, Czech, Polish'' (''Claremont Slavic Series , ), page 10
  • […] the more conventional semivocalic j and the caret (?) respectively.
  • * 1948 , Bohumil Emil Mikula, Progressive Czech (Bohemian) (: Czechoslovak National Council of America), 6
  • The caret' (?), '''há?ek''', is used over the following consonants: '''c''', '''d''', '''n''', '''t''', '''r''', '''s''', and '''z''' to indicate the soft sound. The '''caret''' (?) is also used over the vowel ' e (See Pronunciation II, b, p, v).
  • * 1991 , Michael Shapiro, The Sense of Change: Language as History (; ISBN 0253352037, 9780253352033), page 58
  • In contemporary Czech, the “hook” or caret' is no longer in use for lower-case ''t'' and ''d'' when the latter are palatal; instead, an apostrophe is used (''t’'', ''d’'') This development is clearly connected with the practical difficulty encountered in printing a ' caret over letter stems that are too thin.
    Derived terms
    *

    Etymology 2

    (etyl)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A kind of turtle, the hawksbill.
  • (Webster 1913)

    Anagrams

    * ----

    cursor

    English

    Alternative forms

    * cursour (obsolete)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A part of any of several scientific instruments that moves back and forth to indicate a position
  • (graphical user interface) A moving icon or other representation of the position of the pointing device.
  • (graphical user interface) An indicator, often a blinking line or bar, indicating where the next insertion or other edit will take place. Also referred to as "the caret".
  • (databases) A reference to a row of data in a table, which moves from row to row as data is retrieved by way of it.
  • (programming) A design pattern in object oriented methodology in which a collection is iterated uniformly, also known as the iterator pattern.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • (computing) To navigate by means of the cursor keys.
  • * 1990 , InfoWorld (volume 12, number 22, 28 May 1990)
  • The only other problem is that there's a nagging tendency for the highlight to overrun when cursoring through file lists.

    See also

    * electronic display * GUI * pointer ----