A progress bar is a component in a graphical user interface

Graphical user interface

In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...

 used to convey the progress of a task, such as a download or file transfer. Often, the graphic is accompanied by a textual representation of the progress in a percent format.

A more recent development is the indeterminate progress bar, which is used in situations where the extent of the task is unknown or the progress of the task cannot be determined in a way that could be expressed as a percentage. This bar uses motion or some other indicator to show that progress is taking place, rather than using the size of the filled portion to show the total amount of progress, making it more like a throbber

Throbber

A throbber is a graphic found in a graphical user interface of a computer program that animates to show the user that the program is performing an action .-Typical characteristics:...

 than a progress bar.

The concept for the progress bar was invented much earlier. In 1896 Karol Adamiecki

Karol Adamiecki

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 developed a chart which he called a harmonogram, which is better known today as a Gantt chart

Gantt chart

A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule. Gantt charts illustrate the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project. Terminal elements and summary elements comprise the work breakdown structure of the project. Some Gantt charts...

. Adamiecki did not publish his chart until 1931, however, and only then only in Polish

Polish language

Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...

. The chart thus now bears the name of Henry Gantt

Henry Gantt

Henry Laurence Gantt, A.B., M.E. was an American mechanical engineer and management consultant who is most famous for developing the Gantt chart in the 1910s....

(1861–1919), who designed his chart around the years 1910-1915 and popularized it in the west. The concept was later adopted in computing.