# Form (programming)

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_(programming)
> Source revision: 1314900992
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Element in component-based programming}}
{{One source|date=October 2025}}

In [component-based programming](/source/software_component) ([Visual Basic](/source/Visual_Basic), [.NET](/source/.NET_Framework) [WinForms](/source/WinForms), [Gambas](/source/Gambas), [Delphi](/source/Delphi_(IDE)), [Lazarus](/source/Lazarus_(IDE)) etc.), a '''form'''<ref>{{cite web |title=How to Create a C++ GUI Application Using Visual Studio? {{!}} Simplilearn |url=https://www.simplilearn.com/tutorials/cpp-tutorial/cpp-gui |website=simplilearn.com |access-date=3 October 2025 |language=en}}</ref> is a representation of a [GUI](/source/GUI) window. A form contains components and [controls](/source/Widget_(GUI)), typically including "OK" and "Cancel" buttons; these objects provide a high-level abstraction of standard or custom widgets which are typically much easier to manipulate than the GUI's underlying API.

At design time, visual controls (buttons, text boxes, and the like) and non-visual components (timers, [database connection](/source/database_connection)s, layout aids, and so on) are placed on the form. These controls and components are positioned and sized interactively, and their properties and [event handler](/source/event_handler)s are set with a special editor typically laid out as a grid.

At runtime, automatically generated code creates instances of these controls and components, and sets their properties.

Historically, forms were often implemented as screens on a [block-oriented terminal](/source/block-oriented_terminal) connected to a mainframe computer. [HTML forms](/source/Form_(HTML)) are conceptually very similar.

==See also==
* [Form (document)](/source/Form_(document))
* [Form (HTML)](/source/Form_(HTML))
* [Master-detail](/source/Master-detail)
* [Oracle Forms](/source/Oracle_Forms)
* [Windows Forms](/source/Windows_Forms)
* [Windows_Presentation_Foundation](/source/Windows_Presentation_Foundation)
* [Xamarin.Forms](/source/Xamarin.Forms)
* [XForms](/source/XForms)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Form (Programming)}}
<!--Categories-->
Category:Graphical control elements

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Form (programming)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_(programming)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_(programming)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.