Web Glossary

Browse 130 web terms defined in plain English, from the cultural dictionary of computing.

130 Web Terms

Alpine.js
Alpine.js is a lightweight JavaScript framework for declarative behavior directly in HTML. It is commonly used for sprinkling interaction onto server-rendered...
Alt Text
Alternative text attached to an image so screen readers and other assistive tools can communicate what the image conveys. In online culture, writing good alt...
Angular
Angular is a TypeScript-based frontend framework developed and maintained by Google for building complex, enterprise-grade web applications. Originally...
Angular CLI
Angular CLI is Angular's official command-line tool for scaffolding, building, testing, and serving projects. It is commonly used for standardized frontend...
Ant Design
Ant Design is a React UI component library and design system for enterprise applications. It is commonly used for admin panels, dashboards, and data-heavy...
API
API stands for Application Programming Interface. It is a defined contract that allows two pieces of software to communicate with each other by specifying what...
Archive.org
The Internet Archive and its associated services, widely known for preserving websites, media, software, and public digital history. In tech culture,...
Authentication Middleware
Middleware that intercepts requests to verify identity, parse credentials, establish user context, or reject unauthenticated calls before application logic...
Authorization Middleware
Middleware that enforces access rules on requests after identity has been established but before business logic executes. It is commonly used to apply...
Base64
An encoding scheme that represents binary data using 64 ASCII characters (A-Z, a-z, 0-9, +, /). Used to safely transmit binary data (images, files, keys)...
Bolt
An AI-powered web development platform by StackBlitz that generates full-stack web applications from natural language descriptions. Bolt runs entirely in the...
Browser
A software application that retrieves, renders, and displays web content (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) by communicating with servers over HTTP/HTTPS — the primary...
Browser API
Browser API is a web-platform or frontend-development concept used in browser-based applications. It is commonly used for interactive interfaces, rendering,...
Browser Engine
Browser Engine is a web-platform or frontend-development concept used in browser-based applications. It is commonly used for interactive interfaces, rendering,...
Browser Extension
Browser Extension is a web-platform or frontend-development concept used in browser-based applications. It is commonly used for interactive interfaces,...
Browser Storage
Browser Storage is a web-platform or frontend-development concept used in browser-based applications. It is commonly used for interactive interfaces,...
Canvas
Canvas is a web-platform or frontend-development concept used in browser-based applications. It is commonly used for interactive interfaces, rendering, and...
Canvas API
Canvas API is a web-platform or frontend-development concept used in browser-based applications. It is commonly used for interactive interfaces, rendering, and...
Certbot
An open-source tool that automates obtaining and renewing TLS certificates, commonly with Let's Encrypt.
Chrome DevTools
Chrome DevTools is the built-in browser debugging suite for inspecting DOM, network, performance, and JavaScript execution. It is commonly used for frontend...
Chrome Extension
A browser add-on built for Chrome or compatible browsers to modify behavior, add features, automate tasks, or integrate with web tools. In developer culture...
Client-Side Rendering
Client-Side Rendering is a build or developer-tooling concept used to compile, package, transform, or automate code. It is commonly used for repeatable...
CMS Wars
Ongoing arguments over which content management system is best, often involving tradeoffs around extensibility, hosting, editorial workflow, performance, and...
code splitting
A technique that breaks an application's JavaScript bundle into smaller chunks that are loaded on demand rather than all upfront. Code splitting ensures users...
Common Table Expression
A Common Table Expression is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make...
Cookie
Cookie is a small piece of data that a web server sends to a user's browser, which stores it and sends it back with subsequent requests to the same server....
Cookie Banner
A banner or pop-up on a website asking users to accept, reject, or manage cookie and tracking preferences. In web culture cookie banners are associated with...
Cookie Storage
A Cookie Storage is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code...
Core Web Vitals
A set of three user-centric performance metrics defined by Google that measure loading speed (Largest Contentful Paint), interactivity (Interaction to Next...
CSP
Content Security Policy — an HTTP header that tells the browser which sources of content (scripts, styles, images, fonts) are allowed to load on a page. CSP is...
CSS
CSS, or Cascading Style Sheets, is the language used to describe the presentation and visual formatting of HTML documents. While HTML defines the structure and...
CSS Animation
A CSS Animation is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code...
CSS Module
A CSS Module 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...
CSS Nesting
A CSS Nesting 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...
CSS Preprocessor
A CSS Preprocessor is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code...
CSS Transition
A CSS Transition is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code...
CSS Variable
A CSS Variable 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...
Custom Middleware
Middleware added by an application team to intercept and process requests, responses, or events in ways not provided by the framework out of the box. Custom...
Custom Router
A routing component built or heavily customized to direct requests, navigation, or messages according to project-specific rules. Custom routers are often...
Deep Web
The portion of web content that is not indexed by standard search engines, such as private portals, dynamic pages, internal apps, and paywalled resources. It...
DOM
DOM, or Document Object Model, is a programming interface that represents an HTML or XML document as a tree structure of objects, where each node corresponds...
Drupal
An open-source content management system widely used for complex editorial and enterprise websites.
Expression
An Expression 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...
Express.js
An Express.js 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...
Fresh
A web framework for Deno that uses the 'islands architecture' to ship zero JavaScript to the client by default. Fresh renders pages on the server using Preact...
GraphQL Mutation
A GraphQL Mutation is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code...
GraphQL Query
A GraphQL Query is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code...
GraphQL Resolver
A GraphQL Resolver is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code...
GraphQL Schema
A GraphQL Schema is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code...
Handlebars
A templating language and library used to generate HTML or text from data with logic-light templates.
Hero Image
A large featured visual placed prominently at the top of a webpage, landing page, or product surface to set tone, support messaging, and draw attention. In...
Hono
A small, fast, and ultraportable web framework for TypeScript that runs on any JavaScript runtime: Cloudflare Workers, Deno, Bun, Node.js, AWS Lambda, and...
hot module replacement
A development feature that swaps changed modules in a running application without requiring a full page reload, preserving application state during...
HSTS
HTTP Strict Transport Security — a security header that tells browsers to only communicate with the server over HTTPS, refusing all HTTP connections. Once a...
HTML
HTML, or HyperText Markup Language, is the standard markup language for creating web pages. It defines the structure and content of a web document using a...
HTML Parser
A HTML Parser 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...
HTML Sanitization
A HTML Sanitization is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code...
HTML Template
A HTML Template is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code...
HTMX
A JavaScript library that extends HTML with attributes for making AJAX requests, handling WebSocket connections, and performing CSS transitions directly from...
HTTP
HTTP, or HyperText Transfer Protocol, is the application-layer protocol that powers the World Wide Web. It defines how clients (typically web browsers) and...
HTTP/2
The second major version of HTTP, introducing multiplexed streams (multiple requests over one TCP connection), header compression (HPACK), server push, and...
HTTP/3
The third major version of HTTP, built on QUIC (UDP) instead of TCP. Eliminates TCP's head-of-line blocking — a lost packet in one stream doesn't stall other...
HTTP Cache
A HTTP Cache 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...
HTTP Client
A HTTP Client 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...
HTTP Connection
A HTTP Connection is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code...
HTTP Cookie
A HTTP Cookie 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...
HTTP Header
A HTTP Header 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...
HTTP Method
A HTTP Method 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...
HTTP Middleware
A HTTP Middleware is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code...
HTTP Proxy
A HTTP Proxy 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...
HTTP Redirect
A HTTP Redirect is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code...
HTTP Request
A HTTP Request 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...
HTTP Response
A HTTP Response is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code...
HTTP Router
A HTTP Router 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...
HTTP Server
A HTTP Server 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...
HTTP Status Code
A HTTP Status Code is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code...
HTTP Streaming
A HTTP Streaming is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code...
Hybrid App
A mobile application built with web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) and wrapped in a native container to be distributed through app stores. Frameworks...
iframe
An HTML element that embeds another HTML page within the current page — a page within a page. Once the backbone of web layouts (frames), now primarily used for...
IndexedDB
A low-level browser API for storing large amounts of structured data on the client side, including files and blobs. Unlike localStorage (which only stores...
JavaScript
JavaScript is a dynamic, interpreted programming language created in 10 days by Brendan Eich at Netscape in 1995. Originally designed to add interactivity to...
Joomla
An open-source content management system used for websites, portals, and community-driven web properties.
JSON
JSON, or JavaScript Object Notation, is a lightweight, text-based data interchange format that uses human-readable key-value pairs and ordered lists to...
JWT
JWT, or JSON Web Token, is a compact, URL-safe token format for securely transmitting claims between parties. A JWT consists of three Base64-encoded parts...
Ktor
A Kotlin framework for building web applications, APIs, and network services.
Landing Page
A focused web page designed to convert visitors toward a specific action such as signup, demo request, or purchase. Landing pages are often optimized for a...
lazy loading
A technique that defers the loading of non-critical resources (images, scripts, components) until they're needed, typically when they enter or approach the...
Lighthouse Score Obsession
An excessive focus on improving web audit scores, sometimes at the expense of real user outcomes or broader product priorities.
Local Storage
A browser API for storing key-value string data (up to ~5-10MB) that persists across sessions. Synchronous and blocks the main thread, so avoid storing large...
Long Poll
A web communication technique where the client opens a request that the server holds until new data is available, then reconnects to wait again. It predates...
Lovable
An AI-powered full-stack application builder (formerly GPT Engineer) that generates complete web applications from natural language prompts. Lovable creates...
Media Query
A CSS conditional rule (`@media`) that applies styles only when the user's device or viewport matches specified criteria such as width, height, orientation,...
Middleware Slang
A colloquial use of 'middleware' to mean any layer that intercepts, transforms, checks, or enriches data flowing between two parts of a system. It broadens the...
Moodle
An open-source learning-management system used by schools, universities, and training programs.
Open Web
The idea and ecosystem of a web built on open standards, interoperable protocols, and broad participation rather than locked-down proprietary silos. In web...
Phoenix
A productive web framework for the Elixir language, built on the Erlang VM (BEAM). Known for LiveView (real-time server-rendered UIs without JavaScript),...
PHP
A server-side scripting language that powers an estimated 77% of websites with known server-side languages, including WordPress, Facebook (as Hack), and...
progressive web app
A web application that uses modern browser features (service workers, web manifests, HTTPS) to deliver app-like experiences including offline support, push...
PWA
Progressive Web App — a web application that uses modern browser features (service workers, manifests) to deliver app-like experiences including offline...
Rails
Ruby on Rails — a full-stack web application framework that emphasizes convention over configuration, DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself), and developer happiness....
Remix
A full-stack React framework focused on web standards and progressive enhancement. Created by Ryan Florence and Michael Jackson (the creators of React Router),...
REST
REST, or Representational State Transfer, is an architectural style for designing networked applications that use HTTP as the communication protocol. Defined...
reverse proxy
A server that sits in front of one or more backend servers and forwards client requests to them, appearing to the client as the origin server. Reverse proxies...
Ruby
A dynamic, object-oriented scripting language designed for developer happiness and productivity. Ruby's elegant syntax and the Ruby on Rails web framework...
SEO
Search Engine Optimization — the practice of improving a website's visibility in search engine results through content quality, technical structure, and link...
server-sent events
A simple, one-directional protocol where the server pushes updates to the browser over a persistent HTTP connection using a text-based event stream. Simpler...
service worker
A JavaScript file that runs in the background of a web page, acting as a programmable network proxy between the browser and the server. Service workers enable...
Servlet
A Java class that extends the capabilities of a server by handling HTTP requests and generating responses, managed by a servlet container like Tomcat or...
Session
A server-side or token-based mechanism for maintaining stateful user context across multiple stateless HTTP requests, typically tracked via cookies or session...
shadow DOM
A web standard that creates an encapsulated DOM tree attached to an element, isolating its internal structure, styles, and behavior from the rest of the page....
SPA
Single Page Application — a web application that loads a single HTML page and dynamically updates content via JavaScript and API calls, avoiding full page...
SSL
SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, is a deprecated cryptographic protocol originally developed by Netscape in the 1990s to encrypt communications between web...
Static File
A file served to the client exactly as stored on disk — such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, or fonts — without any server-side processing or dynamic...
Static Site
A website composed entirely of pre-built HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files that are served as-is without server-side rendering or database queries at request...
subresource integrity
A browser security feature that verifies external resources (scripts, stylesheets) haven't been tampered with by comparing their content against a...
SVG
Scalable Vector Graphics — an XML-based image format that describes shapes, paths, and text as mathematical instructions rather than pixel grids, allowing...
Tauri
A framework for building lightweight, secure desktop applications using web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) with a Rust backend. Unlike Electron, which...
Template Engine
A library that combines static template markup with dynamic data to produce output text — typically HTML. Engines like Jinja2, Handlebars, ERB, and Thymeleaf...
Templating
The practice of defining reusable document structures with placeholder syntax that gets filled with dynamic data at runtime — used for generating HTML pages,...
Time to First Byte Culture
A performance-minded culture where teams care deeply about responsiveness metrics such as time to first byte and treat latency as a product and infrastructure...
TLS
TLS, or Transport Layer Security, is the cryptographic protocol that secures communications over the internet, providing privacy, data integrity, and...
tree shaking
A build optimization that eliminates unused code (dead code) from JavaScript bundles by analyzing the dependency graph of ES module imports. Named...
Watering Hole Attack
An attack that compromises a website frequently visited by a target group, rather than attacking the targets directly. Like poisoning a watering hole instead...
Web Agent
An AI agent that interacts with websites or web applications to gather information, fill forms, navigate interfaces, or complete tasks. Web agents need strong...
WebAssembly
A binary instruction format designed as a portable compilation target for programming languages, enabling near-native performance in web browsers. WebAssembly...
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...
WebKit
An open-source browser engine used as the rendering core for Safari and other software. In web development culture, WebKit is one of the major engines teams...
WebSocket
WebSocket is a communication protocol that provides full-duplex, bidirectional communication between a web browser and a server over a single, persistent TCP...
web worker
A mechanism for running JavaScript in a background thread separate from the main page thread, preventing CPU-intensive tasks from blocking the user interface....
WordPress
A widely used open-source content management system powering blogs, marketing sites, and many content-driven websites.

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