Software Glossary For Business Analysts & Product Managers

To excel in this industry, it takes a bit of upfront memorization (and then comprehension). Between acronyms, tools, and slang, if you want to communicate with technologists, you’ve got to know the essentials.

Here is our software glossary for business analysts and product managers, in as simple terminology as possible!

API

An API is an application programming interface. APIs connect backend systems with apps, IoT, and mobile devices so data can be easily sent back and forth.

API use example: You might import Google Analytics data into your company’s custom dashboard using an API.

Asana

Asana is a project management software that is great for Agile teams. You can access it via a web application (app.asana.com) or a mobile app.

Example: “I like Asana more than Basecamp for managing tasks.”

AWS

AWS, Amazon Web Services, is one of the nation’s largest on-demand cloud computing platforms.

Fun Fact: Amazon Web Services is responsible for only a fraction of Amazon’s total revenue, but makes up over 70% of its profits.

Backend

The backend of an application is where a lot of the “work” happens. It includes hosting, database management, cloud storage, authentications, and other information that a user doesn’t see.

An analogy: Backend is sort of like the bottom of an iceberg, hidden away but massive, keeping the top half (frontend) afloat.

Bitbucket

Bitbucket is a web-based application that hosts Git revisions. It lets developers collaborate on code, making development teams aware of what everyone else is doing.

Caching

Caching temporarily stores some data so it’s easier to render. For web applications, this data is stored in files in your browser.

In other words: Caching is good, it makes the web run fast.

CI/CD

Continuous integration/Continuous deployment is the practice of testing changes to your codebase early and automatically and then deploying those changes to your system.

It’s a central part of: DevOps

Code Review

A code review is exactly what you think it is: when a developer or technologist reviews your code and looks for inefficiencies.

Shameless plug: We can do a code review for you! Contact us.

Codeship

Codeship is an online tool. It works with Github and Bitbucket to let you continuously integrate.

Competitors: CircleCI

Commit

The Git commit is a command used to save a developer’s changes to the local repository.

Its sorta like: A “save.” What’s cool about Commit is that you can see who saved and when it was completed.

CSV

CSVs are files with comma-separated values. CSVs are great because they work in any spreadsheet program including Excel, Google Sheets, and Numbers. You can also upload CSVs into programs like MailChimp, BambooHR, and SalesForce.

Totally relatable: The first time you ever opened a CSV expecting a spreadsheet, you were like whatisthis.

Database

A database is an organized collection of data that lives on server farms.

Big ones: Some of the largest databases in the world are Amazon (59 million user’s personal information), Google (trillions of search queries), and the World Data Centre for Climate (temperatures, precipitation, wind globally).

Debug

To debug is to find bugs and then remove them.

Wikipedia: Here are some of the most infamous bugs in recent history.

Deployment / migration

Deployment or migration makes your software available to your users.

In other words: “Launch!‘

DevOps

Dev stands for “development” and includes planning, coding, building, and testing. Ops is the “operations” and includes release, monitoring, response, and learning. DevOps together is a continuous cycle of development and operations, resulting in efficient iterations and better workflows.

DevOps includes: philosophies, process implentation, and tools.

DNS

A domain name system (DNS) is a database! The “phonebook of the internet.” DNS translates domain names to IP addresses so you can access your favorite sites.

Fun fact: There used to only be six top-level domains in existence (.com, .net .gov, .org, .edu, .mil) but now there are over 700 including .blog, .us, and .rocks.

Drupal

Drupal is a CMS (content management system) that lets website admins manage and create content. Drupal is open source so developers can completely customize the design and backend.

Some sites on Drupal: Tesla, NCAA, Six Flags

EC2

Elastic compute cloud (EC2) lets you resize your computing capacity so that you can manage periods of low and high traffic easier.

Example: Your marketing campaign just went viral and you suddenly have five million website visitors. With EC2, your website won’t crash because your hosting company will automatically give you more bandwidth. Once your campaign is over, you’ll go back to normal server use.

Frontend

The frontend of your application is what your user interacts with. It’s your dashboards, profiles, forums, web pages, and any other interface they see when interacting with your software.

An analogy: It’s the top of the iceberg, shiny and beautiful.

Git

Git is local, open-source system software that lets you track changes made to your software’s source code. It helps your developers coordinate and understand who is doing what.

It’s local, aka: You have to download Git to your computer.

Github

Github uses Git, but it’s a cloud-based service. It’s hosted on the web and provides a user interface.

The difference between Git and Github? Git is a downloadable product, Github is a web-based service.

IP Address

An IP Address is an internet protocol address.

In laymen’s terms: It’s your device’s (desktop, mobile, tablets) address. In order to connect to a server and download information, you need an IP address.

Javascript

Javascript is one of the most widely adopted programming languages. Some of the high-level benefits of Javascript are that it integrates with HTML and CSS, it’s simple, and it’s supported by all major browsers.

Abbreviated as: JS

JIRA

JIRA is a project management software that is especially suitable for software development because of its bug tracking and testing capabilities.

Competitors: Asana, Trello, and Pivotal Tracker

JSON

JSON stands for JavaScript Object Notation. JSON is not a language; it’s a data file. With JSON, you organize data so servers and apps can communicate.

Here’s a cool site that uses JSON: https://population.io/

Meteor

Meteor is “a platform for building web and mobile applications in pure JavaScript.”

The benefit of this platform: Meteor is great for mobile app development because you can create everything with one language. This makes it simple, cost-effective, and fast.

Mongo

MongoDB is a database that is good for unstructured data. Its marketing slogan is, “the most popular database for modern apps.”

Good to know: It has superb marketing, but isn’t “better” than MySQL or other databases. It has different, more limited uses.

MySQL / PostgreSQL

MySQL, also known as My Structured Query Language, is a relational database management system. It is best for structured data with clear schema. Learn more on our SQL 101 post.

Fun fact: the “My” in MySQL was given for the co-founder’s daughter.

Netlify

Another content management system that is much newer than Drupal or WordPress. It features continuous deployment and serverless functions.

Brands on Netlify: Peloton and Citrix

PHP

PHP stands for hypertext preprocessor. PHP is a programming language originally designed for web development.

Where it’s used: Most of today’s eCommerce stores and CMSs (WordPress, Drupal, Joomla) are built with PHP.

Prod

Prod is just a shortened “production.“

There is also: PREPROD which, you guessed it, is “pre-production.”

Python

Python is another programming language. Learn Python 101 here.

What’s cool about Python: It’s compact and easy to read, even for non-developers.

README

A readme file is a .txt file that has essential development information regarding instruction, updates, and helpful tips. Readmes should be updated frequently.

These are important: During handoffs, if your Readme file isn’t helpful, the new developers could be spinning their wheels trying to figure out how to update something.

Regression

A regression in software is a bug that disrupts a functioning feature after a certain event (like an update). Regressions are usually caused when bugs are fixed in a shoddy or makeshift way.

The more you know: A performance regression is also a thing. It doesn’t disrupt a function, but it makes your software perform slowly.

SaaS

Saas stands for software as a service. It’s a business and distribution model where businesses host applications and make them available to their customers via the internet.

Examples: Adobe Creative Suite. Adobe used to be a software company (software installations via a disk or download). Now, they host those applications on their servers and you pay a monthly fee.

UAT

UAT is user acceptance testing and takes place after automated testing, before product release. Learn more about QA and testing, specifically for product managers, right here.

In other words: It’s when real people test your software.

WordPress

One of the most popular Content Management Systems out there, built on PHP. It’s great for blogs.

Brands on WordPress: TechCrunch, AMC, Glassdoor

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