Differences Between Enter and Return
On some keyboard layouts, the return and enter key are two different keys, an artifact of the differing handling of newlines by different operating systems. As an example, on the Macintosh, the return key is the usual key, while the enter key is positioned at the lower right of the numeric key pad. For example, while using the text tool in Adobe Photoshop, the return key produces a new line while the enter key ends editing mode.
On IBM's 3270 and 5250 line of terminals, the Enter key was located to the right of the space bar, and was used to send the contents of the terminal's buffer to the host computer. The Return key was located in a more standard location, and was used to generate a new line.
Apple also took advantage of this situation to create a highly editable command line environment called a "Worksheet" in the Macintosh Programmer's Workshop, where return was used strictly as a formatting key while enter was used to execute a shell command or series of commands in direct mode.
In technical terms, the Macintosh keyboard maps the return key to a carriage return, while the enter key maps to a newline.
Historically, many computer models did not have a separate keypad, and only had one button to function as Enter or Return. For example, the Commodore 64 (manufactured from 1982) had only the "Return" key.
Read more about this topic: Enter Key
Famous quotes containing the words differences between, differences, enter and/or return:
“What strikes many twin researchers now is not how much identical twins are alike, but rather how different they are, given the same genetic makeup....Multiples don’t walk around in lockstep, talking in unison, thinking identical thoughts. The bond for normal twins, whether they are identical or fraternal, is based on how they, as individuals who are keenly aware of the differences between them, learn to relate to one another.”
—Pamela Patrick Novotny (20th century)
“I trust the time is nigh when, with the universal assent of civilized people, all international differences shall be determined without resort to arms by the benignant processes of civilization.”
—Chester A. Arthur (1829–1886)
“We are bare. We are stripped to the bone
and we swim in tandem and go up and up
the river, the identical river called Mine
and we enter together. No one’s alone.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“... in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquillity will return again.”
—Anne Frank (1929–1945)