technical glossary
Essential definitions and standards for the modern software engineer.
JSON
JavaScript Object Notation. A lightweight, text-based, language-independent data-interchange format that is easy for humans to read and write and easy for machines to parse and generate.
YAML
YAML Ain't Markup Language. A human-friendly data serialization standard that is commonly used for configuration files in DevOps, specifically for Docker and Kubernetes.
JWT
JSON Web Token. An open standard (RFC 7519) that defines a compact and self-contained way for securely transmitting information between parties as a JSON object.
Base64
A group of binary-to-text encoding schemes that represent binary data in an ASCII string format by translating it into a radix-64 representation.
SHA-256
Secure Hash Algorithm 256-bit. A cryptographic hash function that produces a unique 256-bit (32-byte) signature for data, ensuring integrity and security.
EAN-13
International Article Number. A 13-digit barcoding standard used worldwide for marking products often sold at retail point of sale.
QR Code
Quick Response Code. A type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) designed to be read by smartphones and scanners, storing URLs or other data.
Cron Expression
A string representing a schedule in time, consisting of fields separated by spaces, used to schedule recurring tasks in Unix-like operating systems.
Linter
A static code analysis tool used to flag programming errors, bugs, stylistic errors, and suspicious constructs in code (e.g., YAML or JSON validation).
Minification
The process of removing all unnecessary characters from source code without changing its functionality, typically to reduce file size for faster transmission.
Regex
Regular Expression. A sequence of characters that specifies a search pattern in text, typically used by algorithms for pattern matching or string validation.
HTTP Status Code
Standard response codes issued by web servers to indicate the result of a client's request, categorized into five classes (1xx to 5xx).