Glossary of Terms

Below are the definitions of some common computing jargon.

  • NESTED ELEMENTS: A nested element is an element within an element, such as an "a href" element (used for links) within the "p" element (used for paragraphs).
  • THE BOX MODEL : The box model is a box created using css to wrap around all html elements. This includes
      padding
      margin
      border
      content
  • ALT TAG : The ALT TAG is used for alternative text (alt text) which substitutes a picture when it canot be displayed.
  • JAVASCRIPT : JAVASCRIPT is a programming language that is often used for web development.
  • 404 ERROR : A 404 error is a common website error message that indicates a webpage cannot be found. (Christensson, P. (2010, October 22). 404 Error Definition. Retrieved 2017, Dec 9, from https://techterms.com)
  • COOKIE : A cookie is a small amount of data generated by a website and saved by your web browser. Its purpose is to remember information about you, similar to a preference file created by a software application. (Christensson, P. (2011, July 9). Cookie Definition. Retrieved 2017, Dec 10, from https://techterms.com)
  • DOMAIN NAME: A Domain Name is a distinctive name for a website. Every website has it's own domain name that acts as an address, which is how it's accessed.
  • HTTP : Stands for "Hypertext Transfer Protocol." HTTP is the protocol used to transfer data over the web. (Christensson, P. (2015, May 28). HTTP Definition. Retrieved 2017, Dec 10, from https://techterms.com)
  • HTTPS : Stands for "HyperText Transport Protocol Secure." HTTPS is the same thing as HTTP, but uses a secure socket layer (SSL) for security purposes. (Christensson, P. (2008, October 10). HTTPS Definition. Retrieved 2017, Dec 10, from https://techterms.com)
  • IP : Stands for "Internet Protocol." IP provides a standard set of rules for sending and receiving data over the Internet. (Christensson, P. (2016, January 27). IP Definition. Retrieved 2017, Dec 10, from https://techterms.com)
  • IP ADDRESS : An IP address, or simply an "IP," is a unique address that identifies a device on the Internet or a local network. (Christensson, P. (2016, September 21). IP Address Definition. Retrieved 2017, Dec 10, from https://techterms.com)
  • IPv6 : Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the most recent version of the Internet Protocol (IP), the communications protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic across the Internet. (Wikipedia)
  • IPv4 : IPv4 is the most widely used version of the Internet Protocol. It defines IP addresses in a 32-bit format, which looks like 123.123.123.123. (Christensson, P. (2009, July 14). IPv4 Definition. Retrieved 2017, Dec 10, from https://techterms.com)
  • POP3 : Stands for "Post Office Protocol." POP3, sometimes referred to as just "POP," is a simple, standardized method of delivering e-mail messages. (Christensson, P. (2006). POP3 Definition. Retrieved 2017, Dec 10, from https://techterms.com)
  • PROXY SERVER : Most large businesses, organizations, and universities these days use a proxy server. This is a server that all computers on the local network have to go through before accessing information on the Internet. (Christensson, P. (2006). Proxy Server Definition. Retrieved 2017, Dec 10, from https://techterms.com)
  • C# : C# (pronounced "C-sharp") is an object-oriented programming language from Microsoft that aims to combine the computing power of C++ with the programming ease of Visual Basic. (techtarget.com)
  • SQL : SQL stands for Structured Query language and is used to create databases.
  • T-SQL : T-SQL (Transact-SQL) is a set of programming extensions from Sybase and Microsoft that add several features to the Structured Query Language (SQL), including transaction control, exception and error handling, row processing and declared variables. (techtarget.com)
  • SALESFORCE MARKETING CLOUD: Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform for marketers that allows them to create and manage marketing relationships and campaigns with customers. (techtarget.com)
  • APACHE SOLR : Apache Solr is an open source search platform built upon a Java library called Lucene. (theserverside.com)
  • HYPERLINK: An element in an electronic document that links to another place in the same document or to an entirely different document. (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • LIGHTWEIGHT BROWSER : Lightweight browser is the term used to describe a Web browser that forgoes support of all Web standards in favor of a faster program that will requires less system resources to run on a computer. (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • ANCHOR TEXT : The visible text on a Web page that you click for the hyperlink. Anchor text is an important element of SEO (search engine optimization). (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • TRANSCODING : The process of converting a media file or object from one format to another. (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • XML : Short for Extensible Markup Language, a specification developed by the W3C. XML is a pared-down version of SGML, designed especially for Web documents. (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • CSS : Cascading Style sheets
  • HTML : An abbreviation for "Hypertext Markup Language."
  • SYNTAX : A set of rules that are used as a guide to structure programs.
  • HTML TAG: A html tag is a hidden word that is used to define how a browser would display certain content for example the "p" tag is used to define paragraphs.
  • COMMENT TAG : This is used to add comments into the source code of a program and it will not show in the main program. You can also use comments to help you edit or check for errors in a specific area of the source code, rather than having to read through the whole thing.
  • API : Stands for "Application Programming Interface."(Christensson, P. (2016, June 20). API Definition. Retrieved 2017, Dec 9, from https://techterms.com)
  • CXML : Short for commerce XML, a set of document type definitions for the XML specification. cXML works as a meta-language that defines necessary information about a product. (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • DOM : Short for Document Object Model, the specification for how objects in a Web page (text, images, headers, links, etc.) are represented. (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • DYNAMIC HTML : Refers to Web content that changes each time it is viewed. For example, the same URL could result in a different page depending on any number of parameters, such as:
      location of the reader
      Time of day
      Previous pages viewed by the reader
      Profile of the reader
    (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • GIF : Pronounced jiff or giff (hard g) stands for graphics interchange format, a bit-mapped graphics file format used by the World Wide Web, CompuServe and many BBSs. GIF supports color and various resolutions. (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • CHTML : Short for compact HTML, a subset of HTML for small information devices, such as smart phones and PDAs. cHTML is essentially a pared down version of regular HTML over the Internet. (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • SUBWEB : A term coined by Microsoft that is used in its Web page design software, Microsoft FrontPage. When you create a FrontPage Web, you may want to restrict access to certain portions of that Web. (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • WEB SCRAPPING : Web Scraping refers to an application that processes the HTML of a Web page to extract data for manipulation such as converting the Web page to another format (i.e. HTML to WML) (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • XSL : Short for Extensible Style Language, a specification for separating style from content when creating HTML or XML pages. (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • VRML: Pronounced ver-mal, and short for Virtual Reality Modeling Language, VRML is a specification for displaying 3-dimensional objects on the World Wide Web. You can think of it as the 3-D equivalent of HTML. (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • PNG : Short for Portable Network Graphics, and pronounced ping, a new bit-mapped graphics format similar to GIF. (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • LZW : Short for Lempel-Zif-Welch, a popular data compression technique developed in 1977 by J. Ziv and A Lempel, and later refined by Terry Welch. (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • ALOGORITHM : An algorithm is a formula or set of steps for solving a particular problem. (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • AJAX : Short for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, it is a term that describes a new approach to using a number of existing technologies together, including the following: HTML or XHTML, Cascading Style Sheets, JavaScript, the Document Object Model, XML, XSLT, and the XMLHttpRequest object. (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • MICROSITE : Also called a minisite, a microsite is a separate page of a Web site that has a separate URL than its home page and is used to provide information about and/or promote something that is related to the home page. (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • PERMANLINK : Short for permanent link, a permalink is a direct link to a single entry on content on a blog. (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • PHP : Self-referentially short for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, an open source, server-side, HTML embedded scripting language used to create dynamic Web pages. (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • GHOST SITE : A Web site that remains live but is no longer updated or maintained or only done so very infrequently. Ghost sites can be accessed even though they have not been updated. (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • WEB 2.0 : Web 2.0 is the term given to describe a second generation of the World Wide Web that is focused on the ability for people to collaborate and share information online. (https://www.webopedia.com)
  • WEB 3.0 : The term used to describe the evolution of the Web as an extension of Web 2.0. This definition of Web 3.0 is the popular view held by Tim O'Reilly. (https://www.webopedia.com)