The term click belongs to the English language, although it is commonly used in our language. In Spanish, in any case, the word click should be used, an onomatopoeia recognized by the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) in its dictionary.
This onomatopoeia is used with the intention of imitating certain noises , such as that generated when someone presses a button or the trigger of a revolver. For example: “I heard the gun click but the bullet didn't come out” , “I think the button doesn't work: it clicks but the machine doesn't turn on” , “I was pouring the coffee when a click made me notice that the cup had broken.” cracked.”
The most common use of the notion, however, is specifically associated with the action of pressing a button on a mouse ( mouse ), the peripheral used to give instructions to a computer (computer). The user, by moving the mouse, moves an arrow across the screen. Once you hover over an icon or link, you can make one or two clicks to select or open it or to display a menu.
Most mice have two buttons. Generally the left button is the one used to select, open or execute something, actions that are achieved by making one click or two clicks, depending on the case. A click on the right mouse button , on the other hand, usually allows the display of a menu with several options.
Another possibility that mice offer is to click and, without releasing the button, drag an icon . This action can be useful for moving a file from one folder to another.
The magic of computing and software development in general lies in the fact that the user ends up believing that the digital work environment is part of the material world, that behind the monitor there really is a desktop with its corresponding wallpaper, a series of directories with your files and various programs that can be seen and touched.
Just as in fiction there is suspension of disbelief , a phenomenon that describes the state we enter when we begin to believe in the internal logic of a story (whether when reading a book, watching a movie or playing a video game). , when we spend several hours a day in front of a screen we end up forgetting that nothing we see and use is material, that there are no sheets of paper or pencils moving behind glass, but that everything, absolutely everything has been created from scratch by a group of programmers and designers, among other professionals.
When clicking, that is, pressing one of the buttons on a mouse and releasing it quickly , we do nothing more than that; That is, we do not select a folder, nor press a button or place a cursor, because none of that exists. Our action is nothing more than a motor and mechanical phenomenon , which affects another belonging to the world of electricity and circuits; Each phase that occurs from that moment on has been specifically thought of by the many names thanks to which we have computers today.
When our click reaches the operating system , it does not directly touch any of the aforementioned elements, but instead places it in a list of events that must be evaluated to decide their impact: if we are using a program that supports the use of the mouse, then They execute the relevant functions so that our action generates the expected change; Otherwise, the event is ignored, as if we had done nothing, something that never happens if we take a pencil and run its tip over a sheet of paper.