Last Update on May 15, 2016.

Algorithm - a set of step-by-step instructions to solve a problem.

Compiler - a computer program or sets of programs that transforms source code into machine language that a computer understands.

Constant - an identifier with a value that cannot be altered while a program executes. This is opposite to the value of a variable, which can be altered during program execution.

Data Validation - the process of checking for correctness, meaningfulness, and security of data to be inputted to the system to ensure a program operates with clean, correct, and useful data. Validation can be implemented by adding logic to an application or through a data dictionary.

Delegation - an object relying on another object to provide a specific set of functionalities. This feature is often found in prototype-based languages such as JavaScript (prototypes).

Encapsulation - A mechanism to prevent direct access to or manipulation of specific components belonging to an object/class, such as variables and methods, outside of that object/class. Typically, in programming languages, only methods belonging to the object/class can directly access the encapsulated components of that object/class.

Enumeration Type (also called enumeration or enum) - a data type consisting of a set of identifier that behave as constants in a language.

ETL (Extract, Transform, Loading) - a process of database usage that does the following:

  • Extracts - the process of reading data from a database.
  • Transforms - the process of converting data to a format that is storable in the database or good for querying.
  • Loads - the process of writing the data into the database.

Identifiers - a name given to a value that serves as a label. For instance, in JavaScript, variable and function names serve as identifiers.

Immutable - a data type whose state cannot be modified after it is created. This is in contrast to mutable data types, whose states can be altered after creation.

Intermediate Language - often refers to a language used by high-level programming languages which that do not output to machine code directly. The source code is outputted to the intermediate language that is then compiled to machine code. Although not designed to be used as an intermediate language, other programming languages have frequently used C as an intermediate language because it has compilers for many processors and operating systems.

Interpreter - a computer program that reads source code one line at a time and converts it to a format which can be executed by the processor.

High-level Programming Language - a programming language that abstracts from the details of a computer, making it easier to use for humans.

Low-level Programming Languages - a programming language that provides no or little abstractions to a machine’s language.

Machine Language (Machine Code) - a set of instructions that a computer understands. These instructions are executed directly by the Central Processing Unit (CPU) of a computer.

Meta-Data - data about data.

Mixin - a class in object-oriented programming that contains a combination of methods from other classes.

Mutable - a data type whose state can be modified after it is created. This is in contrast to immutable data types, whose states cannot be altered after creation.

Patch - a piece of software to fix or improve a program or its supporting data.

Polyfill - code (or plugin) that can be added to a web application that allows functionality expected to work natively on a browser but that might not have yet been added to the browser. Polyfills allow for more consistency across browser APIs.

Projection Queries - the queries to a Datastore that specify properties of an entity to be returned. This lowers the amount of data being retrieved and returned in the response.

Polymorphism - in object oriented programming (OOP), the practice of objects being able to share behavior is key. Polymorphism allows a child object to be able to override a behavior of a parent object while still maintaining the same interface.

Source Code - set of computed instructions written in a human readable (high-level) computer language.