In
computer science,
direct manipulation is a
human–computer interaction style which involves continuous representation of objects of interest and rapid, reversible, and incremental actions and feedback. As opposed to other interaction styles, for example, a
command language, the intention of direct manipulation is to allow a user to manipulate
objects presented to them, using actions that correspond at least loosely to manipulation of
physical objects. An example of direct-manipulation is resizing a
graphical shape, such as a rectangle, by dragging its corners or edges with a
mouse.