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Developer Tools Glossary

50 terms total — 24 showing — Last updated 15 Sep 2026

container

Intermediate Technical IVT

A lightweight, portable unit of software that packages an application and all its dependencies into a standardised, isolated runtime environment.

Showing 25–48 of 50

linter

Intermediate Technical IVT

A static analysis tool that automatically examines source code to flag stylistic errors, potential bugs, and deviations...

Technical Term Full entry →

linting

Intermediate Technical IVT

The automated static analysis of source code to detect stylistic errors, suspicious constructs, and deviations from codi...

Technical Term Full entry →

Markdown

Basic Technical IVT

A lightweight plain-text markup language that converts to HTML and is widely used for developer documentation, README fi...

Technical Term Full entry →

merge conflict

Intermediate Technical IVT

An error state that occurs when two branches in a version control system contain incompatible changes to the same part o...

Technical Term Full entry →

merge request

Basic Semi-formal IVT

GitLab's equivalent of a pull request: a proposal to merge one branch into another, subject to review and approval.

Technical Term Full entry →

monorepo

Advanced Technical IVT

A single version-controlled repository that contains the source code for multiple related projects or packages managed t...

Technical Term Full entry →

monospace

Basic Technical IVT

A typeface or text style in which every character occupies the same fixed horizontal width, used in technical documentat...

Style Convention Full entry →

open source

Basic Semi-formal IVT

Software whose source code is publicly available for anyone to view, use, modify, and distribute, typically under a spec...

Style Convention Full entry →

pagination

Intermediate Technical IVT

The practice of dividing a large set of API results or data records into discrete, sequentially accessible pages to limi...

Technical Term Full entry →

pull request

Basic Semi-formal IVT

A formal proposal submitted by a developer to merge a set of code changes from one branch into another within a version...

Technical Term Full entry →

README

Basic Technical

A plain-text or Markdown document placed at the root of a software repository that provides an introductory overview, in...

Document Type Full entry →

refactoring

Intermediate Technical IVT

The process of restructuring existing source code—changing its internal structure without altering its external behaviou...

Technical Term Full entry →

regression

Intermediate Technical IVT

A bug or failure introduced into previously working software as an unintended consequence of a code change.

Technical Term Full entry →

repository

Basic Semi-formal

A storage location, typically hosted on a version control platform, that contains a project's complete file history, bra...

Technical Term Full entry →

RFC

Intermediate Formal IVT

A formal document used in engineering teams to propose, discuss, and reach consensus on significant technical or archite...

Document Type Full entry →

runtime

Intermediate Technical IVT

The environment and period during which a program is executing, as distinct from compile time or design time.

Technical Term Full entry →

scaffolding

Intermediate Technical IVT

The automated generation of boilerplate code structures or project templates by a developer tool to accelerate initial p...

Technical Term Full entry →

SDK

Basic Technical IVT

A packaged collection of tools, libraries, documentation, and sample code that enables developers to build applications...

Abbreviation Full entry →

A packaged collection of tools, libraries, documentation, and sample code that enables developers to build applications...

Abbreviation Full entry →

semantic versioning

Intermediate Technical IVT

A versioning scheme that encodes compatibility information in three numeric components: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH.

Style Convention Full entry →

stack trace

Intermediate Technical IVT

A report generated by a runtime environment that lists the sequence of function or method calls active at the moment an...

Technical Term Full entry →

technical debt

Intermediate Semi-formal IVT

The accumulated cost of shortcuts, suboptimal design choices, or deferred work in a codebase that must eventually be pai...

Technical Term Full entry →

trunk-based development

Advanced Technical IVT

A version-control branching strategy in which all developers integrate their work into a single shared branch (the 'trun...

Technical Term Full entry →

unit test

Basic Technical IVT

An automated test that verifies the behaviour of a single, isolated unit of source code — typically a function or class...

Technical Term Full entry →
Showing 25–48 of 50

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