Software glossary
If you feel a bit lost in the world of the IT jargon, here's a list of those most commonly used with a short explanation.
Although we try to communicate with our clients as clearly as possible, sometimes we cannot avoid industry terms. We’ve prepared a list of the most commonly used terms and abbreviations you’re guaranteed to encounter in the world of software development.
| Term | Explanation |
| Agile | An iterative approach to delivering a project throughout its life cycle. |
| API | Application Program Interface. How computers and applications communicate with one another. |
| Azure | Cloud platform by Microsoft. Used to create, host and scale web applications through Microsoft data centres. |
| Backend | All of the behind-the-scenes digital operations that it takes to keep the front end of a website running, such as the coding, style, and plugins. |
| Backlog grooming | Review and prioritization of backlog in order to keep it up-to-date and ready for next sprint planning. |
| Bug | Error in software behaviour. |
| Burndown chart | A chart that shows the amount of work that remains in a backlog. |
| Business analysis | Process of identifying business needs and finding solutions to business problems. |
| Cloud | Servers accessed over the internet. The software and database also runs on the servers. |
| Cone of uncertainty | It graphically describes the reduction of uncertainty about scope after each sprint is finished. |
| CSS | Cascading style sheets. Used for styling websites (font, color, content format). |
| Definition of Done | Shared understanding of expectations that the increment must live up to to be releasable into production. |
| Demo | Demonstration of working increment. |
| DevOps | Development Operations. System of working that helps to keep development, IT operations, and quality assurance departments on the same page to make for better end-products and collaborations. |
| Dot voting | Estimating technique based on votes cumulation. |
| Epic | Body of work broken down to single user stories and tasks. |
| Favicon | Short for favorite icon, it’s the icon that appears in your website’s browser tab. |
| Feature | Functionality of software. |
| Frontend | The part of the website or app that the user sees. |
| FTP | File Transfer Protocol. Method of exchanging files from one computer to another. This is also how websites are uploaded to the Internet. |
| Full-stack | Developer who has knowledge of both frontend and backend. |
| Gannt chart | Visualization of sequential development used for Waterfall projects. |
| GUI | Graphical User Interface. The image of how a website is laid out and meant to be interacted with. In website design, this is how everything will ideally look in layout. |
| High-fidelity design | Design that looks as close as possible to the final design. |
| HTML | Hypertext Markup Language. The coding language used to build a website in terms of both form and function. |
| Hybrid project management | An approach employing waterfall for planning on high-level perspective and agile for executing the development. |
| IKIWISI | I know when I see it. A principle clients often use when collecting requirements. |
| Increment | Scrum Artifact that defines the complete and valuable work produced by the development team during a sprint. The sum of all increments forms a product. |
| JIRA | Software for managing software projects. |
| Kanban | An agile approach using visualization of tasks status (board). |
| Kanban board | Visual workflow tool consisting of multiple columns. Each column represents a different stage in the workflow process. |
| Kano model | Approach for prioritizing product features based on the degree to which they are likely to satisfy customers. |
| KISS | Keep it simple, stupid. A principle for guiding complex projects. |
| Low-fidelity design | Simple design not including user interaction. Quicker to create. |
| Microservice | It is one of the variants of service-oriented software architecture, where applications are defined as a set of loosely coupled services. |
| Milestone | Important event or subgoal in development. |
| MMP | Minimum marketable product (meets customers’ needs). |
| Mock ups | High-fidelity render of product’s design. |
| MVP | Minimum viable product (validates idea). |
| Poker planning | Consensus-based technique for time estimates. |
| Product backlog | Ordered list of the work to be done to create, maintain, and sustain a product. |
| Product backlog refinement | Activity in a Sprint through which the Product Owner and the Development Teams add granularity to the Product Backlog. |
| Product owner | Scrum role that manages product backlog and defines user stories. Represents client’s interests. |
| Product sponsor | Person responsible for communicating and defining the functionalities of the software and acting on behalf of the Client. |
| Project | Set of objectives to be accomplished in a fixed time. Every project is unique. |
| Project management | Application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to meet project requirements. |
| Proposal | Document containing time and price estimate of the product, Siesta team and our approach to development. |
| Release | Distribution of the newest version of the software. |
| Repository | Central place where data and code is stored. They are organized and maintained. |
| Requirement | Description of what the user wants to do and how. |
| Roadmap | High-level visual summary that maps out the vision and direction of your product over time. |
| SaaS | Software as a service. The most basic of cloud platforms; allows users to share files and collaborate on projects through their browser. |
| Scrum | Scrum is a project management framework, building on agile. It is mechanism to optimize and guide changes. |
| Scrum ceremonies | Events that help to manage the development and improve team collaboration. |
| Scrum master | Role within scrum team accountable for guiding, coaching, teaching, and assisting a scrum team and its environments in a proper understanding and use of Scrum. |
| Scrum values | A set of fundamental values and qualities underpinning the Scrum framework; commitment, focus, openness, respect, and courage. |
| SEO | Search engine optimization. Process of attracting users to a website via organic search. |
| Sitemap | Outline of all pages on a website, organized in hierarchical order. |
| SLA | Service level agreement. Refers to the contract negotiated between the software vendor provider and the client. |
| Slack | App for team communication. Very popular in modern companies. |
| Sprint | Usually a two-weeks long period of time in which the scrum team works to complete the amount of work set at the sprint planning. |
| Sprint backlog | Provides an overview of the development work to realize a Sprint’s goal. |
| Sprint planning | The work you need to do before starting a sprint. First, you set a sprint goal, then the scrum team selects the product backlog items that will contribute to the goal. |
| Sprint retrospective | Scrum ceremony focused on improving scrum team collaboration. |
| Sprint review | Scrum ceremony focused on assessing sprint and learning from it. |
| Standup | Regular meeting of the team sharing what they did, plan on doing and if anything blocks them from doing what they plan. |
| Steering meeting | Meeting of high-level executives and project manager to set the direction of a project and provide strategic oversight. |
| Story point | Measure used in agile project management and development to estimate the difficulty of implementing a given user story. |
| Task | The smallest unit of work, ideally, lasting at most one workday |
| UI | User Interface. The visual elements that go into a website or app. |
| User story | Short, informal, plain language description of what a user wants to do within a software product. |
| UX | User Experience. A user’s interaction with an interface with a focus on how satisfying and successful the experience is. The function to complement UI’s form. |
| Waterfall | Sequential methodology proceeding in clearly defined phases. |
| Web copy | Copywriting for a website. |
| Web design | Web design focuses on organizing content on a website. Today it includes both graphics and web functionality. |
| Wireframe | The bare bones structure of a website. No fonts, colors, or images, this layout is the first step to making sure that the foundation is sound before content is added. |
| WYSIWYG | What you see is what you get. A visual content editor that allows you to modify content in your website without needing to know HTML. You see the change you made directly on the content. |
| YAGNI | You’re not gonna need it. A principle that states that the Scrum Team should not add features to the product until deemed necessary. |
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
| ASAP | As Soon As Possible |
| AV | Audio Visual or Antivirus |
| BA | Business Analysis or Business Analyst |
| BAU | Business As Usual |
| BC | Business Case |
| CRM | Customer Relationship Management |
| DEV | Development or Development environment |
| DIB | Discovery Initiation Brief |
| OS | Operating System |
| PM | Project Manager or Project Management |
| PMP | Project Management Plan |
| PO | Purchase Order |
| POC | Proof of Concept |
| PROD | Production or Production Environment |
| RFI | Request for Information |
| SEO | Search Engine Optimization |
| SLA | Service Level Agreement |
| SOW | Statement of Work or Scope of Work |
| TBA | To be Added |
| TBC | To Be Confirmed |
| TBD | To Be Defined |