wysiwyg

“What You See Is What You Get” is a software term that means what you see on the screen is what the finished item will look like either when printed or viewed on the screen in its final format. Not so long ago, when computing power was significantly less than it is today this was not always the case, you were often presented with a different view. For example, in 3D rendering software, you typically had to work in wireframe view and then look at a fully rendered image occasionally because most computers did not have the power to quickly show the fully rendered version as you edited it.
This points to the fact that this is a virtual phenomenon.
As I type the keys on my keyboard in typing these words, what I see on the screen is the words that I typed. As a computer user we think this is normal. However, as a computer programmer the task is to convert the electronic binary switching of the computer hardware into computer code that produces that effect of words appearing on a screen.
WYSIWYG gives the effect of the letters I type on my keyboard appearing on the computer screen.