Glossary

SoftwareDevelopmentGlossary

Plain-English definitions for the terms that come up when planning a project — no jargon left unexplained.

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40 terms

Terms A–Z.

A B C D E F G H J K L M N O R S T U V W X

A

API Gateway

An API gateway is an API management tool that sits between a client and a collection of backend services.

Asynchronous Programming

A programming paradigm that allows units of work to run separately from the main application thread.

B

Big Data

Extremely large data sets that may be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations.

Blockchain

A decentralized, distributed, and public digital ledger that is used to record transactions across many computers.

C

CDN (Content Delivery Network)

A geographically distributed network of proxy servers and their data centers.

Cloud Computing

The delivery of computing services over the Internet to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale.

CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing)

A mechanism that allows restricted resources on a web page to be requested from another domain outside the domain from which the first resource was served.

CSS

Cascading Style Sheets, a style sheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in HTML.

D

Data Science

An interdisciplinary field that uses scientific methods, processes, algorithms and systems to extract knowledge and insights from structured and unstructured data.

Deep Learning

A subset of machine learning based on artificial neural networks with representation learning.

DevOps

A set of practices that combines software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops) to shorten the systems development life cycle.

DNS

Domain Name System, the hierarchical and decentralized naming system used to identify computers reachable through the Internet or other Internet Protocol networks.

E

E-Commerce Platform

A software application that allows online businesses to manage their website, marketing, sales and operations.

Elasticsearch

A search engine based on the Lucene library, providing a distributed, multitenant-capable full-text search engine with an HTTP web interface.

F

Frontend Development

The development of the graphical user interface of a website, through the use of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

G

Git Version Control

Git is a distributed version control system for tracking changes in source code during software development.

H

HTML

HyperText Markup Language, the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser.

HTTP vs HTTPS

HTTP is an application layer protocol; HTTPS is the same protocol encrypted by Transport Layer Security (TLS).

J

JSON

JavaScript Object Notation, an open standard file format and data interchange format that uses human-readable text to store and transmit data objects.

JWT Token

JSON Web Token, an open, industry standard RFC 7519 method for representing claims securely between two parties.

K

Kubernetes

An open-source container orchestration system for automating software deployment, scaling, and management.

L

Latency

The delay before a transfer of data begins following an instruction for its transfer.

Load Balancing

The process of distributing a set of tasks over a set of resources with the aim of making their overall processing more efficient.

M

Machine Learning Model

A file that has been trained to recognize certain types of patterns over a set of data.

Monolith Architecture

A unified model for software program design where the user interface and data access code are combined into a single program from a single platform.

N

NoSQL Database

A non-relational database that provides a mechanism for storage and retrieval of data modeled in means other than the tabular relations used in relational databases.

O

OAuth

An open standard for access delegation, commonly used as a way for Internet users to grant websites or applications access to their information.

ORM

Object-Relational Mapping, a programming technique for converting data between incompatible type systems using object-oriented programming languages.

R

Redux

An open-source JavaScript library for managing and centralizing application state.

Responsive Design

An approach to web design that makes web pages render well on a variety of devices and window or screen sizes.

S

Scalability

The property of a system to handle a growing amount of work by adding resources to the system.

SQL

Structured Query Language, a domain-specific language used in programming and designed for managing data held in a relational database management system.

SSL Certificate

A digital certificate that authenticates a website's identity and enables an encrypted connection.

State Management

The implementation of a design pattern that manages the state of an application or a component.

T

TDD (Test-Driven Development)

A software development process relying on software requirements being converted to test cases before software is fully developed.

U

UI vs UX

User Interface (UI) refers to the screens, buttons, and other visual elements, while User Experience (UX) is the overall experience of a user using a product.

V

Version Control

A class of systems responsible for managing changes to computer programs, documents, large web sites, or other collections of information.

W

Web Hosting

A type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their website accessible via the World Wide Web.

WebSocket

A computer communications protocol, providing full-duplex communication channels over a single TCP connection.

X

XML

Extensible Markup Language, a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable.