Glossary

UK Software DevelopmentGlossary

Browse 200 expert definitions covering UK software development technologies, regulations, methodologies, and business concepts.

200 TermsA-Z IndexUpdated 2025

Showing 24 of 200 glossary terms

M

Minimum-viable-product

Minimum Viable Product explained. A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is the smallest version of a product that allows you to validate your most impo...

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R

Refactoring

Refactoring explained. Refactoring is the process of restructuring existing code without changing its external behaviour. The goal is...

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V

Version-control

Version Control explained. Version control (also called source control) is the practice of tracking and managing changes to source code o...

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P

Penetration-test

Penetration Test explained. A penetration test (pen test) is a simulated cyber attack against a software system, network, or application —...

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A

Acid

ACID explained. ACID is an acronym describing four properties that guarantee database transaction reliability: Atomicity (all ...

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M

Monorepo

Monorepo explained. A monorepo (monolithic repository) is a version control strategy where multiple projects or packages are store...

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S

Sprint-review

Sprint Review explained. A Sprint Review (also called a sprint demo) is a Scrum ceremony held at the end of each sprint where the devel...

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A

Api-contract

API Contract explained. An API contract is a formal specification of how an API behaves — defining: available endpoints, request forma...

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M

Microservice

Microservice explained. A microservice is a small, independently deployable software service that is responsible for a specific busine...

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A

Acceptance-testing

Acceptance Testing explained. Acceptance testing is the process of verifying that a software system meets business requirements and is ready...

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B

Boilerplate

Boilerplate explained. Boilerplate (in software) refers to sections of code that are repeated across many parts of a codebase with li...

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M

Mock-testing

Mock (Testing) explained. A mock (or mock object) is a simulated object in software testing that mimics the behaviour of a real dependen...

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C

Code-smell

Code Smell explained. A code smell is a surface indication in code that suggests there may be a deeper problem with the code's desig...

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C

Continuous-deployment

Continuous Deployment explained. Continuous Deployment (CD) is a software development practice where every code change that passes the automate...

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R

Rate-of-change

Rate of Change explained. Rate of change (in software) refers to how frequently a software system is updated — including new features, b...

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S

Software-licence

Software Licence explained. A software licence is a legal agreement that defines how software may be used, distributed, and modified. For ...

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N

Non-functional-requirements

Non-Functional Requirements explained. Non-functional requirements (NFRs) describe how a system should perform, rather than what it should do. They i...

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D

Dependency

Dependency explained. A software dependency is a library, package, or module that a software project relies on to function. Modern s...

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T

Technical-interview

Technical Interview explained. A technical interview is a job interview format used for software engineering roles that evaluates a candidate...

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S

Sprint-backlog

Sprint Backlog explained. A Sprint Backlog is the subset of items from the Product Backlog that the development team has committed to co...

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D

Definition-of-done

Definition of Done explained. The Definition of Done (DoD) is a shared agreement within a Scrum team that defines what criteria must be met ...

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K

Kanban

Kanban explained. Kanban is an agile methodology that manages work by visualising the workflow on a board divided into columns (...

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B

Burn-down-chart

Burn-Down Chart explained. A burn-down chart is a visual representation of work remaining versus time available in a sprint or project. T...

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S

Story-points

Story Points explained. Story points are a unit of measure for expressing the overall effort required to fully implement a user story....

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