Standards Glossary

Browse 60 standards terms defined in plain English, from the cultural dictionary of computing.

60 Standards Terms

802.1X
802.1X is an IEEE standard for port-based network access control that provides an authentication framework for devices connecting to a local area network (LAN)...
AES
Advanced Encryption Standard, a widely used symmetric encryption algorithm standardized for securing data at rest and in transit. AES became the dominant...
AES-256
AES using a 256-bit key, commonly cited as a high-strength symmetric encryption configuration for protecting sensitive data. The algorithm remains AES; the 256...
API Specification Standard
A formal standard used to describe APIs consistently so tools, documentation, validation, and client generation can work across ecosystems. In open-source and...
Baseline Security
The minimum acceptable set of security controls, settings, and practices required across systems or environments. Baseline security gives organizations a floor...
Body of Knowledge
The recognized collection of concepts, methods, standards, and practices associated with a profession or discipline. In tech and adjacent fields the phrase...
Certification
A formal process of verifying that a product, component, or system meets specific standards, requirements, or compatibility criteria defined by an external...
Code Lighthouse
A well-structured and easy-to-understand piece of code that serves as a reference point for how things should be done. In engineering slang, a code lighthouse...
Code Standard
A documented rule set for how code should be structured, styled, named, tested, or reviewed within a project or organization. Code standards are useful because...
Code Standards
Shared rules or expectations for how code should be formatted, structured, documented, and reviewed. Code standards help teams collaborate smoothly, though...
Coding Standards
Documented or agreed rules for writing code consistently across a team or organization. Coding standards help reduce friction and surprise, especially when...
Common Vulnerability Scoring System
Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardized method for rating vulnerability severity based on exploitability, impact, and environmental factors....
Configuration Standard
A standard way of representing or organizing configuration so tools and teams can work consistently across environments. In open-source and platform work,...
Convention
A widely accepted norm or customary way of doing something within a group, language, framework, or community. Conventions reduce friction because people can...
Cross-Compilation Standard
A standard or convention for building software on one platform for a different target platform or architecture. In tooling culture, cross-compilation standards...
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures — a standardized identifier system maintained by MITRE for publicly known cybersecurity vulnerabilities, formatted as...
Data Encryption Standard
Data Encryption Standard is the historical symmetric cipher standard based on DES, now retained mainly for legacy context. Security teams use it to enforce...
Documentation Standard
A defined standard for how documentation should be structured, written, versioned, or maintained across a project or ecosystem. Documentation standards help...
Engineering Principles
The core rules or values a team uses to guide engineering decisions, such as simplicity, reversibility, observability, or user impact. Clear engineering...
Engineering Standards
Defined expectations for how engineering work should be done, covering areas such as testing, documentation, reviews, security, and operations. In culture,...
Environment Standard
A shared standard for how development, testing, or deployment environments should be defined and reproduced. Environment standards help reduce the drift and...
ERC-20
The dominant token standard on Ethereum, defining a common interface (transfer, approve, balanceOf, etc.) that allows any compliant token to be traded, stored,...
Excellence
A commitment to doing work at a high standard rather than settling for merely adequate output when the stakes justify better. In workplace culture, excellence...
Guideline
A recommended rule or principle that helps shape decisions and behavior without necessarily functioning as a rigid law in every case. In culture, good...
HL7
Health Level Seven — a set of international standards for the transfer of clinical and administrative health data between software applications. HL7 v2 uses...
Industry Standard
A widely accepted technical or operational practice, control set, or specification used across an industry as a baseline for security or interoperability....
Interoperability
The ability of different systems, applications, or components to exchange and use information effectively, often through standardized formats and protocols....
ISO
The International Organization for Standardization — an independent body that publishes technical standards. In tech, 'ISO' commonly refers to ISO disk image...
Java Community Process
The formal process used to propose and standardize changes in the Java ecosystem through Java Specification Requests and related governance mechanisms. In...
JSR
Short for Java Specification Request, the formal proposal process used by the Java Community Process to define or revise Java platform standards and APIs. Many...
Open Container Initiative
The standards body that maintains widely used specifications for container images and runtimes.
OpenGL
A long-standing graphics API standard used for rendering 2D and 3D graphics across many platforms. In graphics culture, OpenGL is both foundational history and...
Open Protocol
A protocol whose specification is openly available and can be implemented by multiple independent parties. In internet culture, open protocols are associated...
Open Standard
A technical standard developed and published in a way that allows broad implementation without proprietary lock-in or discriminatory access. Open standards are...
OSD
Short for the Open Source Definition, the criteria used to determine whether a software license qualifies as open source. In licensing culture, OSD compliance...
OWASP
Open Web Application Security Project — a nonprofit foundation producing tools, documentation, and the famous Top 10 list of web application security risks. If...
OWASP Top 10
A widely used awareness document summarizing the most critical web application security risks identified by OWASP. It shows up in application security,...
Paved Road
The officially supported way to build or operate something inside an organization, designed to make common tasks safer and easier.
PCI DSS
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, a compliance framework for protecting cardholder data. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Pipeline Standard
A standard defining how build, test, deployment, or data pipelines should be structured, named, or validated. In engineering culture, pipeline standards make...
PKCS
Public-Key Cryptography Standards, a family of specifications covering common cryptographic formats and operations. It shows up in application security,...
Portability
The degree to which software can run on different platforms, operating systems, or hardware with minimal or no modification. Highly portable code avoids...
Portability Standard
A standard or convention intended to make software easier to build and run across different platforms, operating systems, or environments. In open-source...
POSIX
Portable Operating System Interface — a family of IEEE standards (IEEE 1003) that define a common API, shell, and utility interface for Unix-like operating...
Protocol
A set of rules governing communication between systems. In networking, protocols like HTTP, TCP, and WebSocket define how data is formatted and transmitted. In...
PSR
PHP Standard Recommendation — a set of coding standards and interfaces published by the PHP Framework Interop Group (PHP-FIG). PSR-4 defines autoloading, PSR-7...
Request for Comments
A document format or process used to propose ideas, standards, protocols, or major project changes for review and discussion before adoption. Often abbreviated...
RFC
Request for Comments — a formal document published by the IETF or used internally by engineering teams to propose, discuss, and document technical standards,...
SBOM Standard
A standard defining how software bills of materials should be represented, exchanged, or validated. In software supply-chain work, SBOM standards matter...
Semantic Commit Standard
A convention for formatting commit messages so their type and intent can be parsed consistently, often to drive changelogs or release automation. In developer...
S/MIME
Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, a standard for signing and encrypting email messages. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Style Guide
A documented set of conventions governing code formatting, naming, file organization, and idiomatic usage for a language or project. Widely adopted examples...
Testing Standard
A standard or shared convention describing how tests should be written, organized, named, or enforced. In engineering organizations, testing standards reduce...
UNIX
The family of operating system ideas, standards, and implementations originating from the original Unix systems at Bell Labs, known for process composition,...
Version Control Standard
A shared standard for how version control should be used, including branching, commit style, tags, and merge practices. In team environments, version control...
WCAG
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines — the international standard for web accessibility published by W3C. Organized around four principles: Perceivable,...
web component
A set of browser-native APIs (Custom Elements, Shadow DOM, HTML Templates) that enable creating reusable, encapsulated UI components without any framework. Web...
WG
Short for working group, a temporary or standing team focused on a specific technical area, proposal, or governance problem. The abbreviation is common in...
Working Group
A group formed to work on a specific technical, organizational, or policy area within a larger project, foundation, or standards process. Working groups allow...
X.509
The standard format that defines the structure of digital certificates used in PKI and TLS. It shows up in application security, identity, infrastructure, or...

Related Topics