DevOps

This glossary contains definitions related to the DevOps movement. Some definitions explain the meaning of words used to describe how a DevOps culture breaks down silos between software development and operations teams. Other definitions are related to the software tools that DevOps engineers use to lower costs, achieve higher productivity and automate tasks.

abstract class - An abstract class is a template definition of methods and variables in a specific class, or category of objects.
Agile project management (APM) - Agile project management (APM) is an iterative approach to planning and guiding project processes.
agnostic - Agnostic, in an information technology (IT) context, refers to something that is generalized so that it is interoperable among various systems.
algorithmic transparency - Algorithmic transparency is openness about the purpose, structure and underlying actions of the algorithms used to search for, process and deliver information.
Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS) - Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) is a cloud computing service in Amazon Web Services (AWS) that manages containers and allows developers to run applications in the cloud without having to configure an environment for the code to run in.
Android OS - Android OS is a Linux-based mobile operating system that primarily runs on smartphones and tablets.
Ansible playbook - An Ansible playbook is an organized unit of scripts that defines the tasks involved in managing a system configuration using the automation tool Ansible.
Apache Hadoop YARN - Apache Hadoop YARN is the resource management and job scheduling technology in the open source Hadoop distributed processing framework.
artifact (software development) - An artifact is a byproduct of software development that helps describe the architecture, design and function of software.
automated testing - Automated testing is a software testing technique that automates the process of validating the functionality of software and ensures it meets requirements before being released into production.
Azure DevOps - Azure DevOps -- rebranded from Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) in 2018 -- is a software-as-a service (SaaS) platform from Microsoft designed to provide a comprehensive toolchain for developing and deploying software projects.
BANT - BANT is an acronym that stands for 'Budget, Authority, Need, Timing.
beta test - In software development, a beta test is the second phase of software testing in which a sampling of the intended audience tries out the product.
boot loader (boot manager) - A boot loader (boot manager) is a small program that places the operating system (OS) of a computer into memory.
Boot2Docker - Boot2Docker is a minimalist Linux distribution with the sole purpose to run Docker containers.
branching - Branching is the practice of creating copies of programs or objects in development to work in parallel versions, retaining the original and working on the branch or making different changes to each.
BSD licenses - BSD licenses are a low restriction type of license for open source software that does not put requirements on redistribution.
build - In a programming context, a build is a version of a program that, as a rule, is a pre-release version and is identified by a build number rather than by a release number.
CALMS - CALMS is a conceptual framework for the integration of development and operations (DevOps) teams, functions and systems within an organization.
canary testing - In software testing, canary testing refers to testing a new software version or a new feature with real users in a live (production) environment.
change control - Change control includes the various steps needed to process changes made to a product or system.
ChatOps - ChatOps, sometimes known as conversation-driven collaboration or conversation-driven DevOps, is the use of chat clients, chatbots and other real-time communication tools to facilitate software development and IT operations tasks.
Chef (software) - Chef is an open source systems management and cloud infrastructure automation platform.
Cloud Foundry - Cloud Foundry is an open source cloud platform as a service (PaaS) on which developers can build, deploy, run and scale applications.
command-line interface (CLI) - A command-line interface (CLI) is a text-based user interface (UI) used to run programs, manage computer files and interact with the computer.
Concurrent Versions System (CVS) - CVS also is an abbreviation for Computer Vision Syndrome.
configuration management database (CMDB) - A configuration management database (CMDB) is a file -- usually in the form of a standardized database -- that contains all relevant information about the hardware and software components used in an organization's IT services and the relationships among those components.
containers as a service (CaaS) - Containers as a service (CaaS) is a cloud-based service that provides a secure environment for running containerized applications.
continuous delivery (CD) - Continuous delivery (CD) is an approach for software delivery in which development teams produce and test code in short but continuous cycles to improve software quality.
Cygwin - Cygwin is a collection of open source tools that allows Unix or Linux applications to be compiled and run on a Microsoft Windows operating system (OS) from within a Linux-like interface.
Db2 - Db2 is a family of database management system (DBMS) products from IBM that serve a number of different operating system (OS) platforms.
Debian - Debian is a popular and freely available computer operating system (OS) that uses a Unix-like kernel -- typically Linux -- alongside other program components, many of which come from GNU Project.
debugging - Debugging, in computer programming and engineering, is a multistep process that involves identifying a problem, isolating the source of the problem and then either correcting the problem or determining a way to work around it.
dependency hell - Dependency hell is a negative situation that occurs when a software application is not able to access the additional programming it requires to work.
DevOps as a Service - DevOps as a Service is a delivery model for a set of tools that facilitates collaboration between an organization's software development team and the operations team.
DevOps Dojo - A DevOps Dojo is a place where DevOps team members go for hands-on training.
DevOps engineer - A DevOps engineer is an IT professional who works with software developers, systems operators and other production IT staff to oversee code releases and deployments.
DevSecOps - DevSecOps (development plus security plus operations) is an approach that combines application development, security, operations and infrastructure as code (IaC) in an automated continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline.
Docker Swarm - Docker Swarm is a container orchestration tool for clustering and scheduling Docker containers.
DRBD (Distributed Replicated Block Device) - DRBD (Distributed Replicated Block Device) is a Linux-based software component that facilitates the replacement of shared storage systems by networked mirroring.
Drupal - Drupal is a free, open source content management system (CMS) to build and maintain websites, online directories, e-commerce stores, intranets and other types of digital content.
Eclipse (Eclipse Foundation) - Eclipse is a free, Java-based development platform known for its plugins that allow developers to develop and test code written in other programming languages.
Elastic Stack (ELK Stack) - The Elastic Stack is a group of open source products from Elastic designed to help users take data from any type of source and in any format, and search, analyze and visualize that data in real time.
enterprise architecture framework - An enterprise architecture framework (or simply EA framework) is the collection of processes, templates and tools that software teams use to plan and build large, enterprise-grade application architecture systems.
event-driven architecture (EDA) - An event-driven architecture (EDA) is a framework that orchestrates behavior around the production, detection and consumption of events as well as the responses they evoke.
Fedora - Fedora, also known as Fedora Linux, is a popular open source Linux-based operating system (OS).
Firefox - Firefox is a free, open source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and Mozilla Corporation in 2004.
freeware - Freeware (not to be confused with free software) is a type of proprietary software that is released without charge to the public.
fuzz testing (fuzzing) - Fuzz testing (fuzzing) is a quality assurance technique used to discover coding errors or bugs and security loopholes in software, operating systems and networks.
Git - Git is an open source distributed version control system that is available for free under the GNU General Public License version 2.
git stash - Git stash is a built-in command that stores, or stashes, changes in the software development tool Git that aren't yet ready to be committed.
GitLab - GitLab is an open source code repository and collaborative development platform.
GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) - GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) is a graphical user interface (GUI) and set of computer desktop applications for Linux operating system (OS) users.
GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or GPL) - The GNU General Public License, often shortened to GNU GPL (or simply GPL), lists terms and conditions for the copying, modification and redistribution of open source software.
GNU GRUB - GNU GRUB (or just GRUB) is a boot loader package that supports multiple operating systems on a computer.
GNU Project - The GNU Project is a mass collaborative initiative for the development of free software, specifically a free operating system called GNU.
GNU/Linux - GNU/Linux is a Unix-like operating system made up of different OS components and services that create the Linux OS.
Google Bigtable - Google Bigtable is a distributed, column-oriented data store created by Google Inc.
Google ChromeOS - Google ChromeOS, formerly Chrome OS, is a lightweight operating system (OS) built on ChromiumOS, an open source OS that shares the same code base as ChromeOS.
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) - Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) is a managed Kubernetes service for containers and container clusters running on Google Cloud infrastructure.
GraphQL - GraphQL is an open source query language that describes how a client should request information through an API.
gRPC - GRPC is a high-performance remote procedure call framework released by Google in August 2016.
gzip (GNU zip) - Gzip (GNU zip) is a free and open source algorithm for file compression.
Hadoop - Hadoop is an open source distributed processing framework that manages data processing and storage for big data applications in scalable clusters of computer servers.
heartbeat (computing) - In computing, a heartbeat is a program that runs specialized scripts automatically whenever a system is initialized or rebooted.
Heartbleed - Heartbleed was a vulnerability in some implementations of OpenSSL, an open source cryptographic library.
instant app (Google Android instant app) - A Google Android instant app is a small software program that enables users to test out a portion of a native Android app without installing it on a device.
Internet Information Services (IIS) - Internet Information Services (IIS) is a flexible, general-purpose web server from Microsoft that runs on Windows systems to serve requested HTML pages or files.
iterative development - Iterative development is a way of breaking down the software development lifecycle (SDLC) of a large application into smaller chunks.
Kaizen (continuous improvement) - Kaizen is an approach to creating continuous improvement based on the idea that small, ongoing positive changes can reap significant improvements.
kernel panic - A kernel panic refers to a computer error from which the system's operating system (OS) cannot quickly or easily recover.
Korn shell (ksh) - The Korn shell (ksh) is an operating system (OS) command shell that was developed for Unix by David Korn at Bell Labs.
Kubernetes - Kubernetes, also referred to as K8s for the number of letters between K and S, is an open source platform used to manage containerized applications across private, public and hybrid cloud environments.
Kubernetes pod - Kubernetes pods are the smallest deployable computing units in Kubernetes, an open source system for container scheduling, orchestration and management.
LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) - LAMP is an open source Web development platform that uses Linux as the operating system, Apache as the Web server, MySQL as the relational database management system and PHP as the object-oriented scripting language.
Lean software development - Lean software development is a concept that emphasizes optimizing efficiency and minimizing waste in the development of software.
Linkerd - Linkerd is an open source network proxy installed as a service mesh for Kubernetes.
Linux operating system - Linux is a Unix-like, open source and community-developed operating system (OS) for computers, servers, mainframes, mobile devices and embedded devices.
Maven - Maven is a project management build tool used mostly in Java development.
Microsoft Azure Stack - Microsoft Azure Stack is an integrated platform of hardware and software that delivers Microsoft Azure public cloud services in a local data center to enable organizations to construct hybrid clouds.
mobile application development - Mobile application development is the set of processes and procedures involved in writing software for small, wireless computing devices.
mobile application development platform (MADP) - A mobile application development platform (MADP) is a type of software that allows a business to rapidly build, test and deploy mobile apps for smartphones or tablets.
module - A module is a distinct assembly of components that can be easily added, removed or replaced in a larger system.
MongoDB - MongoDB is an open source NoSQL database management program.
MySQL - MySQL is a relational database management system (RDBMS) based on SQL (Structured Query Language).
Nagios - Nagios is an open source IT system monitoring tool.
NoOps (no operations) - NoOps (no operations) is a concept that an IT environment can become so automated and abstracted from the underlying infrastructure that there's no need for a dedicated team to manage software in-house.
object-relational mapping (ORM) - Object-relational mapping (ORM) is a way to align programming code with database structures.
Ogg Vorbis - Vorbis is an open source patent-free audio compression format, developed as a replacement for proprietary digital audio encoding formats, such as MP3, VQF, and AAC.
open core model (open core software) - The open core model is an approach to software development that combines attributes of both the open source and closed source models.
Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) - Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is an open standard application programming interface (API) that allows application programmers to easily access data stored in a database.
Open Document Format (ODF) - The Open Document Format (ODF) is a zip-compressed, Extensible Markup Language (XML)-based, open source file format for saving and exchanging text, spreadsheets, charts, graphics and presentations.
Open Source Hardening Project - The Open Source Hardening Project is an initiative of the United States Department of Homeland Security, created to improve the security of open source code.
OpenJDK - OpenJDK is a free, open-source version of the Java Development Kit for the Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE).
OpenSSL - OpenSSL is an open source cryptographic toolkit that facilitates secure communications between endpoints on a network.
OpenStack - OpenStack is a collection of open source software modules and tools that provides organizations with a framework to create and manage both public cloud and private cloud infrastructure.
pair programming - Pair programming is an Agile software development technique originating from Extreme programming (XP) in which two developers team together and work on one computer.
performance testing - Performance testing is a testing measure that evaluates the speed, responsiveness and stability of a computer, network, software program or device under a workload.
Perl - Perl is a family of script programming languages that is similar in syntax to the C language.
PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) - PHP (Hypertext Processor) is a general-purpose scripting language and interpreter that is freely available and widely used for web development.