Web Dev Terms and Definitions
Browse over 44 terms and definitions related to web development and internet technologies.
API — Application programming interface
Above The Fold — Derived from newsprint, information above the fold draws maximum readership. See First Screen.
Advertising copy — The words employed to communicate a sales message in an advertisement or commercial.
Application programming interface — A method for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service (such as a custom dataset or specific computation task) to other pieces of software.
Back-end — Server-side software, everything you can't see on a website. Includes databases, back-end logic, application programming interface (APIs), architecture, and servers.
CSS — Cascading Style Sheets
Cascading Style Sheets — A style sheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in a markup language such as HTML or XML.
Copyright — Legal mechanism that protects your ownership of what you write.
Copywriter — Person who writes advertising copy.
Database — An organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Popular database engines include PostgreSQL, MariaDB, MySQL, and MongoDB.
Domain name — A string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control within the Internet. Located between the subdomain and top-level domain.
E-A-T — Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness—is a principle Google\'s search quality raters use to determine the quality and effectiveness of search results.
Endpoint — The final destination of a URL for the main file being served by the web server. (such as mysite.com/our-services.html)
Extensible Markup Language — A markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing arbitrary data.
First Page — The page located at the root of a website domain. Also called a home page.
First Screen — The first piece of content that appears on screen when a website is loaded. Not to be confused with the first page.
Front-end — Graphical user interface of a website so that users can view and interact with that website.
HTML — Hypertext Markup Language
Home Page — The first page of a website. Located at the root domain.
Hypertext Markup Language — also known as "the language of the internet." A standardized system for tagging text files to achieve font, color, graphic, and hyperlink effects on World Wide Web pages.
JavaScript — A programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS.
LAMP Stack — Acronym for Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP, one of the most common software stacks for many of the web's most popular applications.
Linux — An open-source operating system commonly used to run a web server.
Node.js — A back-end JavaScript runtime open-source server environment. Executes JavaScript code outside a web browser.
PHP — Hypertext Preprocessor programming language. A general-purpose scripting language geared toward web development.
Protocol — Communication protocols include basic data communication tools like TCP/IP and HTTP.
Python — A high-level, general-purpose programming language. It supports multiple programming paradigms, including structured, object-oriented and functional programming.
Request Parameters — Part of a URL that is used to return dynamic content based on its value.
Subdirectory — The subdirectory of a URL sits outside of the main domain within its own partition. Just like a subdomain, the subdirectory can be used to host a separate blog, ecommerce store, separate mobile site, contact forms, etc.
Subdomain — A piece of additional information added to the beginning of a website’s domain name. It allows websites to separate and organize content for a specific function.
Top-Level Domain — Everything that follows the final dot of a domain name. It helps classify and communicate the purpose of domain names.
URL — Uniform Resource Locator
USP — Unique Selling Proposition
Uniform Resource Locator — A Uniform Resource Locator (web address) is a reference to a website (or internet resource) that specifies its location on a computer network (the internet) and a mechanism for retrieving it.
Unique Selling Proposition — The thing that sets you, your product or service, or your business apart from every other competitor in a favorable way. It’s the competitive advantage that you proclaim to your prospects, customers, or clients.
WAF — Web application firewall
Web Server — A combination of computer software and underlying hardware that accepts requests over the internet.
Web application firewall — Security software that can be installed on web servers with the aim of protecting web applications from abuse by hackers.
Web content — Words written for the web for the purpose of informing, communicating, entertaining, or edifying the reader, not necessarily communicating a sales or marketing message.
Web copy — Words employed to communicate a sales message on the web. Its purpose is to generate leads, customers, sales, and, consequently, profits for a website.
Web copywriter — Person who writes web copy.
Web developer — A programmer who develops applications for use on the World Wide Web.
Webmaster — A person responsible for maintaining one or more websites. They monitor its performance with search engines, functionality, speed and design.
XML — Extensible Markup Language
YMYL — Your Money or Your Life. Google judges pages based on content that could potentially impact a person\'s future happiness, health, finances, or safety.