Filters vs. Layer Styles

[GKLee]

Hope you guys can answer this - what is the difference between filters and layer styles? Obviously they have different sets of effects, but what makes an effect one or the other?

It seems to me that they can all be in one place, I know that's not really the case. Any light shed would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Nomission]

They're totally different. The guys at Adobe wouldn't make a mistake like that, don't you think?
Layer styles are "non-destructive", you can add and tweak as much as you like and your pictures and/or designs remain untouched in a special kind of "layer". The layer styles are achieved by the use of "live algorithms" that live in these special layers, linked to our styled layer.
Filters are destructive, it means that any pixel affected by a filter, will get that change forever, the algorithm is applied to the picture itself, when we press the ok button.
Hope I helped somewhow.

 

[GKLee]

Thanks a lot, Nomission. Come to think of it, it makes sense. I'm looking at the filters, and I could see how difficult it would be for Adobe to make any of them non-destructive, like Polar Coordinates.