GlossaryField guide
A working vocabulary for the whole stack.
The same word can mean different things in different teams. These definitions follow the way the terms are used across this guide.
- Full stack developer
- A developer who is comfortable across the front end and the back end of a web or software application, and who can work with the layers that connect them.
- Front end
- The part of a system people see and use. It includes structure, presentation and interaction in the browser.
- Back end
- The part of a system that runs away from the browser. It includes services, business logic, data access and infrastructure.
- API
- An application programming interface. A defined way for one part of a system to ask another part for work or information.
- RESTful API
- An API shaped around resources and the standard methods of HTTP. It gives clients a predictable way to read and change state.
- Database
- A system for storing, organizing and retrieving information. A database can be relational, document based or built around another model.
- SQL
- Structured Query Language. A language for defining, querying and changing data in a relational database.
- NoSQL
- A broad label for databases that do not use the relational model as their primary structure. Document stores are one common example.
- Server side
- Work that runs on a server rather than in the browser. It can include request handling, application logic and data access.
- Serverless
- An approach where a provider manages the servers and a team deploys functions or managed services. The team still owns the design, cost and failure behavior.
- Framework
- A structure that provides conventions and tools for building an application. It shapes how code is organized but does not replace the platform beneath it.
- Library
- A collection of code that a developer calls when needed. A library usually leaves more of the application structure in the developer's hands.
- Data modeling
- The work of deciding what information a system stores, how it relates and how it will be queried. A good model makes the data easier to trust and change.
- Infrastructure
- The computing environment that runs an application. It includes compute, storage, networking, deployment and the services that keep a system available.
Reference shelf
Check a term at the source.
Glossaries, plain language introductions and compatibility references that go deeper than this short list.