Glossary
Software Developer Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential software developer terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key software developer vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in software developer training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Agile
- An iterative approach to software development.
- API
- Application programming interface: how programs talk to each other.
- Back end
- Servers, databases and logic behind an app.
- Bug
- A defect in software.
- CI/CD
- Continuous integration and delivery of code changes.
- Deployment
- Releasing software to users.
- Framework
- A reusable set of tools for building software.
- Front end
- The part of an app users see.
- Git
- A version control system for tracking code changes.
- Pull request
- A request to merge code changes after review.
- Refactoring
- Improving code without changing behavior.
- Source code
- The human-readable instructions that make up a program.
- Sprint
- A short, fixed work period in agile.
- Technical debt
- Future work created by shortcuts today.
- Unit test
- A test of a small piece of code.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Software Developer practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Software Developer training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.