Shared vocabulary
Glossary
Short definitions of recurring terms, alphabetized. Each entry links straight to its explanation.
A
API- Application Programming Interface — the contract through which programs exchange requests and responses. In these guides it usually means a REST or GraphQL HTTP interface.
C
CI/CD- Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery — automated pipelines that build, test, and ship code after every commit. Typical tools include GitHub Actions and GitLab CI.
CLI- Command-Line Interface — a text-based way to control a program by typing commands. Most guides here assume a POSIX-compatible shell such as bash or zsh.
D
Docker- A container platform that packages an application with its dependencies into isolated, reproducible units. Guides use Docker Compose for local multi-service stacks.
E
Environment variable- A named value passed to a process by the operating system, commonly used for configuration and secrets like API keys. Often shortened to env variable.
L
Linter- A static analysis tool that flags suspicious code style and likely bugs before runtime. ESLint for JavaScript and Ruff for Python are common examples.
P
pnpm- A fast, disk-efficient JavaScript package manager with strict node_modules layout. It uses a global content-addressable store so projects share package files instead of duplicating them.
R
Regex- Regular expression — a compact pattern language for matching text. Useful for search-and-replace, validation, and log parsing; also easy to overuse.
W
Webhook- An HTTP callback: one service POSTs an event payload to a URL you own when something happens. Webhooks let systems react in near real time without polling.
WSL- Windows Subsystem for Linux — a compatibility layer that runs a real Linux environment directly on Windows. WSL2 uses a lightweight virtual machine for full system-call compatibility.