Graphical user interfaces as documents

The representation of GUIs as documents is a technological trend that has been present for some years, but is only now about to significantly change the way in which most user interfaces are developed. This paper examines this change, explains the reasons behind it and the concepts involved. It compares the old fashioned way of programming user in-terfaces as code units with the document-based paradigm, explaining why the latter is preferable. Furthermore, it dis-cusses how the document-based paradigm can be extended to a very comprehensive and well defined customization ap-proach for GUIs, the document-oriented approach, which supports the paradigms of end-user development and robust content. Author Keywords GUI, document orientation, end-user development, WYSI