Nuts and beans are both edible and nutritious, and while a nut is considered a fruit, a bean is like a seed. A bean can have up to half a dozen seeds, while nuts have only one or two seeds. When picked, beans are said to be much softer than nuts. Some of the most common beans include lima, black, pinto, and garbanzo.
Nuts, on the other hand, are much harder inside and out, and some of the members of the nut family include almonds, pecans, walnuts, and chestnuts. These nuts are considered the fruit of their tree. Also, when a nut matures, the seed is no longer attached to its ovary wall; however, beans, generally come inside of a soft casing.