Essential Tech Glossary: 30+ Must‑Know Terms for Developers

English Abbreviations

API

Application Programming Interface (API) is a set of conventions that connect different components of a software system. Good API design helps partition responsibilities, reduce coupling, increase cohesion, and improve maintainability and extensibility.

ACID

ACID refers to the four properties—Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability—that a DBMS must guarantee for reliable transaction processing.

AJAX

AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) is a collection of browser‑side web development techniques that enable asynchronous data exchange.

CAS

Compare and Swap (CAS) is an atomic operation used in multithreaded programming to safely exchange data without interruption.

Central Authentication Service (CAS) is a single‑sign‑on protocol that allows a user to access multiple applications after a single authentication.

JPA

Java Persistence API (JPA) is a Java specification for mapping objects to relational tables and persisting entity objects to a database.

JSON

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight, text‑based data interchange format that is easy for humans to read and language‑independent.

POJO

Plain Ordinary Java Object (POJO) refers to a simple Java object without business logic, often used as a value object or data transfer object.

DSL

Domain Specific Language (DSL) is a specialized language designed to solve problems in a particular domain rather than being general‑purpose.

GC

Garbage Collection (GC) is an automatic memory‑management mechanism that reclaims memory no longer in use, reducing programmer burden and errors.

DML

Data Manipulation Language (DML) comprises SQL commands such as INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE that operate on data within a database.

DDL

Data Definition Language (DDL) includes SQL statements like CREATE, ALTER, and DROP that define or modify database structures.

DI

Dependency Injection (DI) is a design pattern that supplies an object’s dependencies from the outside, reducing coupling.

DNS

Domain Name System (DNS) maps domain names to IP addresses, acting as a distributed database for internet navigation.

GUI

Graphical User Interface (GUI) presents a visual interface for users, making interaction more intuitive than command‑line interfaces.

HTTP

HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application‑layer protocol that underpins data communication on the World Wide Web.

IOC

Inversion of Control (IoC) is a principle that transfers control of object creation and binding to an external entity, commonly implemented via Dependency Injection.

JWT

JSON Web Token (JWT) is a compact specification for securely transmitting information between parties, often used for single‑sign‑on.

LDAP

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is an open, vendor‑neutral protocol for accessing and maintaining distributed directory information over IP.

MVC

Model‑View‑Controller (MVC) separates an application into Model, View, and Controller components to improve modularity and maintainability.

MVP

Model‑View‑Presenter (MVP) extends MVC by adding a Presenter to facilitate unit testing and separation of concerns.

MVVM

Model‑View‑ViewModel (MVVM) separates UI development from business logic using a view model to bind data to the view.

OLAP

On‑Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) provides multidimensional analysis capabilities such as roll‑up, drill‑down, and pivot for decision‑support systems.

SQL

Structured Query Language (SQL) is a domain‑specific language for managing relational database systems.

SPA

Single Page Application (SPA) loads a single HTML page and dynamically updates content as the user interacts.

SOA

Service‑Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a design approach where services communicate over a network using open standards.

SOAP

Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) is a protocol for exchanging structured information in web services.

NoSQL

NoSQL refers to a class of database management systems that differ from traditional relational databases.

XML

eXtensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format readable by both humans and machines.

Professional Terms

Front‑end and Back‑end

Front‑end (client side) handles input collection and visual presentation, while back‑end processes the data.

Optimistic Lock

Optimistic Concurrency Control assumes transactions do not interfere; it checks for conflicts before committing and rolls back if a conflict is detected.

Pessimistic Lock

Pessimistic Concurrency Control prevents other transactions from modifying data by acquiring locks that must be released before others can proceed.

Spin Lock

A spin lock is a busy‑waiting synchronization primitive where a thread repeatedly checks a lock variable until it becomes available.

Recursion

Recursion is a technique where a function calls itself, commonly used in mathematics and computer science.

Primary Key

A primary key uniquely identifies each row in a database table and cannot be null.

Foreign Key

A foreign key creates a relationship between tables by referencing the primary key of another table.

B/S Architecture

Browser/Server architecture uses a web browser as the client, communicating with a server that may host databases and business logic.

C/S Architecture

Client/Server architecture separates client applications from server services, allowing multiple clients to request resources from a central server.

Web Service

A Web service is a software system designed to support interoperable machine‑to‑machine interaction over a network, often exposing APIs.