The difference between shortcuts and program files

A shortcut is a link to an actual program. If there is no real program, it is invalid, that is, the program it is connected to cannot be opened. The extension of the shortcut file The name is .lnk, and the program file is the program itself. Running the program can complete the corresponding operations, and the program can also be run without shortcuts.

There is a vivid saying: shortcuts are "street signs" and program files are "destination". (Recommended learning: PHPSTORM )

The colorful icons on the desktop may be very familiar with everyone? I don’t know if you have noticed, but these icons have a common feature. There is a very small arrow in the lower left corner of each icon.

This arrow is used to indicate that the icon is a shortcut. Shortcuts are a method provided by Windows to quickly start programs and open files or folders. It is a quick connection for applications. The general extension of shortcuts is *.lnk.

It is a shortcut very useful for frequently used programs, files and folders. Think about Windows without shortcuts: Find the directory you need among many directories based on memory, then open it layer by layer, and finally find the correct executable file from a large number of files and double-click to start it. .

Such a tedious operation will give even an experienced user a headache. With shortcuts, all you have to do is double-click the shortcut icon on the desktop with your mouse. Now everyone knows the importance of shortcuts.

Some people may ask: Isn’t there a start menu? Then can’t you also start the program directly? In fact, this problem is related to the storage location of the shortcut. Shortcuts are generally stored in three places: the desktop, the Start menu, and the "Quick Launch" on the taskbar. Everyone can see these three places immediately after turning on the computer to facilitate operation.

In other words, the Start menu is actually a collection of shortcuts for various application software installed on the computer. It is mainly used to centrally manage shortcuts. You can right-click "Start" and select "Open" in the pop-up menu to see if there are many icons with the small arrow representing the shortcut.

Generally speaking, a shortcut is a command line used to quickly start a program. It is both different and related to the program.

To give a simple analogy, if the program is compared to a television, the shortcut is like a remote control panel. Through the remote control panel, we can easily and quickly control the TV's switches, channel selection, etc.

Without the remote control board, we can still walk to the TV to operate it, but it is not as convenient as the remote control and will not affect the use of the TV. But without the TV, the remote control panel obviously does nothing.

The same goes for shortcuts. When the shortcut matches the actual installed program, it is very convenient. After deleting the shortcut, we can still find the target program through "My Computer" and run it. And when a program is deleted, just having a shortcut is useless. If the shortcuts on your desktop are copied to other people's computers, they generally cannot be used normally.

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