Integration Glossary

Browse 32 integration terms defined in plain English, from the cultural dictionary of computing.

32 Integration Terms

Adapter Pattern
A structural design pattern that makes incompatible interfaces work together by wrapping one interface in a class that implements the expected interface. Like...
AI API
An application programming interface that exposes AI capabilities such as text generation, embeddings, classification, speech, or image processing to other...
AI Integration
The incorporation of AI capabilities into an existing product, workflow, or technical stack. AI integration usually involves APIs, data preparation, UX...
Anti-Corruption Layer
A translation layer between two systems (or bounded contexts) that prevents one system's model from corrupting another's. Translates between different domain...
API Client
A program, library, or component that sends requests to an API and handles the returned responses. API clients may be hand-written, generated from a...
API Hell
A miserable integration situation involving inconsistent APIs, poor docs, breaking changes, awkward auth, or conflicting conventions. In developer slang, API...
API Integration
The connection between two systems using an API so data or actions can flow between them reliably. API integrations often involve authentication, retries, data...
CDC
Change Data Capture — a pattern for tracking and propagating changes made to a database by tailing its transaction log rather than polling for differences. CDC...
Change Data Capture
A pattern for tracking and streaming row-level changes (inserts, updates, deletes) from a database to downstream systems in real-time. Tools like Debezium read...
Communication Bus
A shared channel or infrastructure used for exchanging messages, commands, or events between components in a system. Communication buses are common in...
Compatibility
The ability of software, data, APIs, or environments to work correctly together despite differences in version, platform, or implementation. Compatibility is a...
Composition API
A Composition API is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code...
Connector
A component that links one system to another by handling protocol details, authentication, data mapping, or event translation. Connectors are common in...
Consume
To read and process messages from a queue or stream, or to call and use an API endpoint. A consumer pulls data from sources like Kafka topics, RabbitMQ queues,...
Context API
A Context API is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code easier...
Cross-Service
Describing workflows, dependencies, or changes that involve multiple services working together instead of remaining inside one service boundary. Cross-service...
Custom Protocol
A communication protocol designed for a specific application or environment rather than using a standard protocol unchanged. Custom protocols can optimize for...
Fluent API
A Fluent API is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code easier...
Geolocation API
A Geolocation API is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code...
Glue Code
Code that exists solely to connect two systems, libraries, or components that weren't designed to work together. Nobody wants to write it, everyone depends on...
Glue Code
Code that connects two systems or libraries that weren't designed to work together, handling format conversions, protocol translations, and API mapping. Often...
Interoperability
The ability of different systems, applications, or components to exchange and use information effectively, often through standardized formats and protocols....
LLM Calling
The act or pattern of invoking a large language model from application code, a workflow engine, or another model-mediated system. The phrase often comes up...
Model Integration
The work of connecting a model to an application, workflow, or platform so it can be used as part of a real product. Model integration includes APIs, prompts,...
Payment Gateway
A service that authorizes and processes credit card and digital payments for online merchants, acting as the intermediary between the customer, the merchant,...
Structured Output
Constraining an LLM's output to conform to a specific format like JSON Schema, XML, or a grammar. Achieved through guided decoding (constraining token...
System Test
An end-to-end test that validates the complete, integrated system against its specified requirements — exercising the full stack including UI, APIs, databases,...
Tool Integration
The work of connecting external tools, APIs, or services into an AI workflow so the system can act on real data or systems. Tool integration raises questions...
Tool Use
The ability of an LLM to invoke external tools (functions, APIs, databases, code interpreters) to accomplish tasks beyond text generation. The model decides...
Webhook
A webhook is an HTTP callback mechanism that allows one system to send real-time notifications to another when a specific event occurs. Instead of the...
Webhook Retry
The retry policy used when a webhook delivery fails (non-2xx response or timeout). Good implementations use exponential backoff (e.g., 1min, 5min, 30min, 2hr,...
Webhook vs. Polling
Two approaches to getting updates: polling (repeatedly asking 'anything new?') vs. webhooks (getting called when something happens). Polling is simpler;...

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