Glossary

Terminal & Command Line

Texting your computer instead of using a touchscreen. Faster once you know the language, but you need to know what to say

Terminal & Command Line

The drive-thru vs. walking into the restaurant. You speak your order instead of pointing at the menu

Terminal & Command Line

A text message to your computer — short, specific, expects a response

Terminal & Command Line

Ordering a burger "with no onions" — the burger is the command, "no onions" is the flag

Terminal & Command Line

A street address for files. `/Users/yourname/Documents/project` tells the computer exactly where to look

Terminal & Command Line

Just a folder. Developers say "directory" because they like to sound fancy

Terminal & Command Line

The lobby of a building — everything else is inside it or accessible from it

Terminal & Command Line

Your apartment in the building. Other users have their own apartments

Files & Configuration

Secret notes you keep in a drawer. They're there, but you have to know to look for them

Files & Configuration

A sticky note with passwords and settings you keep in your desk drawer — never in a shared folder

Files & Configuration

Your personal sticky note that never leaves your desk, even if you share the project with others

Files & Configuration

A "do not pack" list for your suitcase — these items stay home no matter what

Files & Configuration

A briefing document you give to a new team member so they understand how things work here

Files & Configuration

The instruction manual that comes with furniture — ideally you read it first

Files & Configuration

Writing with shortcuts — `#` means "make this big", `-` means "bullet point"

Files & Configuration

The ingredient list and recipe card for your project — what you need and how to make it

Files & Configuration

The pantry where all your ingredients are stored after you buy them

Git & Version Control

Track Changes in Microsoft Word, but for your entire project, and you control when to save checkpoints

Git & Version Control

Google Drive for code — your files exist locally, but GitHub is where you back them up and share them

Git & Version Control

A folder with a detailed diary of every change ever made to it

Git & Version Control

A save point in a video game — you can always go back to it if things go wrong

Git & Version Control

A sticky note on your save point explaining what you did

Git & Version Control

A parallel universe where you can experiment. If you like the results, you can merge it back into reality

Git & Version Control

The published version of a book. Other branches are drafts being edited

Git & Version Control

Taking the edits from your draft and incorporating them into the published version

Git & Version Control

Submitting your draft for editorial review before it gets published

Git & Version Control

Downloading a Google Doc so you can edit it offline

Git & Version Control

Syncing your offline changes back to Google Drive

Git & Version Control

Refreshing your offline copy to get everyone else's latest edits

Git & Version Control

Photocopying someone's recipe so you can modify it without changing their original

Git & Version Control

Putting items in your shopping cart before checkout — they're selected but not purchased yet

Git & Version Control

A "track changes" view showing exactly what was added, removed, or modified

APIs & Data

A waiter at a restaurant — you tell them what you want (request), they bring it from the kitchen (response)

APIs & Data

A VIP pass that tells the bouncer who you are and what you're allowed to do

APIs & Data

Placing an order with the waiter

APIs & Data

The food the waiter brings back from the kitchen

APIs & Data

Different counters at a food court — each one serves different things

APIs & Data

A standardized form everyone agreed to use — like a shipping label with specific fields in specific places

APIs & Data

A doorbell — when someone arrives (event happens), it automatically rings (sends notification)

APIs & Data

A library system — you request books (resources) using card numbers (URLs) and specific actions (GET to read, POST to add)

APIs & Data

Showing your ID at the door

APIs & Data

A "one per customer" limit — prevents anyone from taking everything

APIs & Data

A giant spreadsheet that multiple applications can read from and write to simultaneously

APIs & Data

Asking the librarian for "all books by Stephen King published after 2010"

APIs & Data

A universal remote for AI models — one interface to control many different services

APIs & Data

Like traffic laws — everyone agrees to drive on the same side of the road so things work smoothly

Deployment & Environments

A restaurant that only you can eat at — it's fully functional but not open to the public

Deployment & Environments

Your test kitchen — you can make mistakes, experiment, and no customers will see

Deployment & Environments

A dress rehearsal — everything is real except the audience

Deployment & Environments

The restaurant is open — real customers, real orders, real consequences

Deployment & Environments

Moving from your test kitchen to opening night — the code goes from your computer to the internet

Deployment & Environments

Preparing all your ingredients into ready-to-serve dishes before opening

Deployment & Environments

Renting a storefront for your restaurant — they provide the space, electricity, and address

Deployment & Environments

Your restaurant's street address — easier to remember than GPS coordinates

Deployment & Environments

A phone book that converts names to phone numbers

Deployment & Environments

A sealed envelope vs. a postcard — HTTPS means the contents are private

Deployment & Environments

Having franchise locations everywhere so customers don't have to drive across the country

Deployment & Environments

A conveyor belt from your kitchen to the dining room — when you put something on the belt, it automatically gets delivered

Deployment & Environments

Like having multiple separate computers inside your computer, each with their own setup

Deployment & Environments

Like apartment numbers in a building — 3000, 8080, 5000 are different "doors" for different programs

Package Management

A pre-made sauce you buy instead of making from scratch

Package Management

An ingredient your recipe requires — if it's missing, the dish won't work

Package Management

A grocery store for JavaScript code — you tell it what you need, it gets it for you

Package Management

A rental car — use it once without buying it

Package Management

Buying a kitchen appliance for your home vs. renting it for one recipe

Package Management

Buying an ingredient just for tonight's dinner

Package Management

A shopping receipt that lists exactly what you bought and from where

Next.js & React

A food truck that comes with the kitchen already set up — you just add your recipes

Next.js & React

LEGO blocks — each one is self-contained, and you combine them to build something bigger

Next.js & React

Instructions given when you delegate a task — "here's what you need to know"

Next.js & React

The current mood of your restaurant — busy, slow, sold out — and the sign you flip accordingly

Next.js & React

Cooking the meal in the kitchen before bringing it to the table, rather than cooking at the table

Next.js & React

Cooking the meal at the table — the diner waits while you prepare

Next.js & React

Meal prepping on Sunday for the whole week — ready to go when needed

Next.js & React

A waiter who can also cook — handles the request and prepares the response

Next.js & React

The maitre d' who checks reservations before seating you

Next.js & React

A box of pre-labeled styling stickers — instead of writing custom CSS, you stick on `text-blue-500`

Next.js & React

A racing pit crew for your website — gets everything running and refreshing instantly

Security & Best Practices

The combination to your safe — share it and you lose everything

Security & Best Practices

Settings you adjust depending on location — your home thermostat vs. the office

Security & Best Practices

Leaving the safe combination on a sticky note in a public place

Security & Best Practices

A wristband at a concert — proves you paid without showing your credit card every time

Security & Best Practices

Using your driver's license to prove your age instead of showing your birth certificate

Security & Best Practices

Each person can only see their own files in a shared filing cabinet

Claude Code

A save point in a video game — experiment freely, roll back if needed

Claude Code

Everything you've told your assistant so far — they remember and build on it

Claude Code

Teaching your assistant shortcuts — say "morning routine" and they know what to do