English Dictionary — Definitions & Meanings

cloud computing

noun

The practice of using computers, storage and software that belong to someone else and are reached over the internet, paying for what is used instead of owning and running the machines yourself.

merge conflict

noun

A situation in which two people have changed the same part of the same file and the version-control software cannot decide which change to keep, so it stops and asks a person to choose.

virtual machine

noun

A complete computer created in software rather than hardware, running inside a real computer with its own operating system, memory and storage, and behaving as though it were a separate machine.

runtime

noun

The period during which a program is actually running, as opposed to the time when it is being written or prepared.

compiler

noun

A program that takes source code written by a person and turns it into a form a computer can run directly, checking as it goes that the code makes sense according to the rules of the language.

boolean

adjective

Relating to a system of logic in which every statement is either true or false, with nothing in between, and statements are combined using operations such as and, or and not.

regex

noun

A short line of symbols that describes a pattern of text, used to find, check or replace pieces of writing that match that pattern; short for regular expression.

SDK

noun

A bundle of ready-made code, tools and documentation supplied by a company so that other people can build software that works with its product or platform; short for software development kit.

CLI

noun

A way of using a computer program by typing text commands and reading text results, rather than clicking buttons and menus; short for command-line interface.

operating system

noun

The main piece of software on a computer or phone that starts up first, manages the hardware such as the screen, memory and storage, and provides the shared services that all other programs rely on to run.

data breach

noun

An incident in which private information held by an organisation is seen, copied or taken by someone with no right to it, whether through an attack, a misconfigured system or a mistake by staff.

antivirus

noun

A programme that looks for harmful software on a computer or phone, warns about it and removes or isolates what it finds, using both lists of known threats and checks on how programmes behave.

brute force

noun

A method of breaking into an account or decoding protected data by trying enormous numbers of possible passwords or keys one after another until one works, rather than by finding a clever weakness.

DDoS

noun

An attack that knocks a website or online service offline by flooding it with far more traffic or requests than it can handle, sent at the same time from a large number of separate machines.

zero-day

noun

A flaw in software that the people who make it do not yet know about, so no fix exists at the moment it starts being used against users.

CAPTCHA

noun

A small test on a website meant to tell a real person apart from an automated programme, such as reading distorted letters, picking out images that contain a certain object, or ticking a box that quietly measures how the visitor behaves.

2FA

noun

Short for two-factor authentication: a login check that asks for two different kinds of proof of identity, usually a password plus a code from a phone or a physical security key.

two-factor authentication

noun

A way of checking that someone is who they claim to be by asking for two different kinds of proof, typically a password plus a second item such as a code from a phone app, a text message or a small physical key.

ransomware

noun

Malicious software that locks a computer or scrambles the files on it so the owner cannot open them, and then demands a payment in exchange for restoring access.

mesh network

noun

A network in which several devices each relay traffic for the others, so that data can travel between any two points by more than one route rather than passing through a single central device.