Plain English
Software words, without the jargon
Developers sometimes forget that not everyone speaks their language. Here is what the terms you are most likely to hear actually mean.
- API
- A way for two pieces of software to talk to each other automatically. When your website sends bookings straight into your calendar system, that is an API connection at work.
- Backend
- The part of an app or website that runs out of sight: storing information, checking passwords, processing payments. If the frontend is the shop front, the backend is the stockroom and the till.
- Business analyst
- A person who works out exactly what a business needs from software before it is built. They talk to everyone involved, check existing systems and write requirements in a form both sides can agree on.
- Frontend
- The part of a website or app you can see and click: the pages, buttons, forms and layouts. Good frontend work makes a product feel fast, clear and pleasant to use.
- Full-stack developer
- A developer comfortable working on both the visible parts of software (frontend) and the machinery behind it (backend). They can build a complete feature on their own.
- Hosting
- The service that keeps your website or app running on the internet, in the same way a shop needs premises. Without hosting, nothing is there when someone types in your address.
- MVP
- Short for minimum viable product: the smallest version of a product that is genuinely useful to real users. Building an MVP first lets you test an idea before paying for every feature.
- Milestone
- A chunk of work with its own deadline and payment. Splitting a project into milestones means you review and approve progress piece by piece instead of paying everything up front.
- Repository
- The secure home of a project’s code, where every change is recorded. It means work can be reviewed, undone and continued by any developer on the team.
- Technical debt
- The hidden cost of software that was built quickly or carelessly. It works like financial debt: everything takes longer and costs more until someone pays it down by cleaning up the code.
- UI
- User interface: the screens, buttons, menus and words a person actually interacts with. When people say an app "looks good", they are usually talking about the UI.
- UX
- User experience: how easy and satisfying something is to use. A beautiful app that hides the checkout button two menus deep has good UI but bad UX.
- Vibe coding
- Building software by describing it to an AI tool instead of writing the code yourself. It can be fast, but the results often need a professional review to be secure and reliable.
- Vibe-coded app rescue
- What we call the job of taking an app built with AI tools and making it safe, stable and ready to grow. It usually starts with a review, then a plain-English list of what needs fixing.
Have a question these do not answer? Try our frequently asked questions or ask our AI adviser.