Common IT Terms

Below are some common terms in IT and their meanings.

Agile Development

Agile development refers to a collection of software development processes where requirements and solutions are realised through collaboration between cross-functional teams.

Application Development

Application development is the creation of software in an organised and ordered manner.

Application Software

Application software refers to individual applications such as Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat – which can also be called a program.

ASP.NET

ASP.NET is the implementation of the .NET framework for web applications.

Business Logic

Business logic is the instruction set (or business rules) that allow the analysis and validation of data for an application; this normally sits between the application program and the database.

C#

C# is a programming language provided by the .NET framework that .NET software engineers write code in.

Computer Software

Computer software represents the collection of instructions that tell the hardware what to do.

Custom software

Custom software (sometimes referred to as bespoke software) is an application developed specifically for an organisation. Custom software is generally a one-off application built to specific organisational requirements and is not targeted at the mass market.

Database

A database is where all the data needed for an application is stored. Data is stored, managed and information is retrieved from the database, an example of a database is SQL Server.

Desktop Application

A desktop application runs on a desktop (computer) or laptop.

Enterprise Application

An enterprise application is generally a software application hosted on an application server which simultaneously provides services to a large number of users, via a network.

GUI

GUI is an acronym for Graphical User Interface – and refers to the part of an application that users see and interact with.

Java

Java is a programming language that Java software engineers use to create applications on top of the Java runtime.

Mobile Application

A mobile application is an application that is designed to run on mobile devices such as mobile phones or PDAs.

Off-the-shelf software

A software application that is developed for the general market and is delivered to many customers in an identical format.

Operating System

An operating system is a program designed to run other programs on a computer. The operating system is considered the backbone of the computer. It manages both software and hardware resources. Operating systems are responsible for everything from the control and allocation of memory to the management of files on computer hard drives and the control of other hardware like printers and scanners. Examples of operating systems include Microsoft Windows and Apple OS X.

Programming

Programming is the writing and testing of software source code in order to customise it to specific needs.

Server

A server is primarily a program that runs on a powerful machine, providing a specific service to other machines connected to that particular machine.

Software Development

Software development refers to creating or producing software.

Software Engineering

Software engineering is a professional field related to creating, applying and altering software so that it becomes more suitable to the users' needs.

SQL Server

Microsoft SQL Server stores data in a structured and related format – to be utilised by other programs and to generate reports.

Systems Integration

Systems integration is the process of linking together disparate computing systems and software applications physically or functionally.

Web Applications

Web applications are accessed through a web browser (such as Internet Explorer or Firefox) and are made available through a web server (a computer program that delivers (serves) content, such as web pages, using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http)).

.NET Development

.NET development refers to developing applications on the .NET framework.

.NET Framework

The .NET framework is the Microsoft framework that software engineers use to create applications.