Short answer
You can commission good software without learning its vocabulary. A few words come up in every quote and are worth knowing: the scope is what will be built, hosting is the rented computer it runs on, a database is where the records live, source code is what lets someone change it, and an API is what lets it connect to other systems. The rest are below, in alphabetical order.
Twenty-five terms
- API
- A doorway one program offers so that other programs can read or send information. If a system “has an API”, it can usually be connected to.
- App
- A program made for a phone, installed from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.
- Automation
- A job the computer does by itself when something happens, such as sending a reminder the day before an appointment.
- Backup
- A separate copy of your records, kept so they can be put back after a loss. A backup that has never been restored is only a hope.
- Bug
- A fault: the software does something other than what was agreed.
- Cloud
- Computers owned by another company that you rent over the internet, instead of keeping a server in your office.
- Dashboard
- One screen that shows the main numbers of a business, added up automatically.
- Database
- Where a system keeps its records. Unlike a spreadsheet, it lets many people work at once and controls who may change what.
- Domain name
- Your address on the internet, such as yourbusiness.com.na. Whoever controls the domain account controls the address.
- Hosting
- The rented computer your system runs on, and the monthly fee for it.
- Integration
- A connection that lets two systems pass information to each other without retyping.
- Launch
- The day the system is switched on for real use. Developers also say “deployment” or “going live”.
- Licence
- Permission to use software you do not own, usually paid monthly per user.
- Login and role
- A login says who you are. A role says what you are allowed to see and do.
- MVP
- Minimum viable product: the smallest version that really works and that real people can use.
- Offline-first
- Built to save records on the device first and send them when a connection returns.
- Open source
- Software whose code is published and free to use. Much of the internet runs on it. It does not mean unsafe, and it does not mean free to run.
- Prototype
- Screens that look and tap like the finished product and do nothing behind them. Used to test a design cheaply.
- Scope
- The written agreement of what will be built, what will not, the price and the time.
- Server
- A computer that runs the system and holds the records for everyone who uses it.
- Source code
- The instructions a developer writes. Whoever holds the source code can change the system.
- Specification
- A fuller scope: every screen, rule and record written down before a large build.
- Two-step verification
- Signing in with a password and a second proof, such as a code on your phone.
- User
- Anyone who logs in. Many products charge per user per month.
- Web app
- Software that runs in a browser, with logins and records. Nothing to install, and one version for every device.
A word we avoid
If anyone, including us, explains something with a word that is not on this page and you do not know it, ask them to say it again without the word. A person who understands their work can always do that.