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.
acceptance testing - Acceptance testing is a quality assurance (QA) process that determines to what degree an application meets end users' approval.
Agile project management (APM) - Agile project management (APM) is an iterative approach to planning and guiding project processes.
Agile software development - Agile is a type of software development methodology that anticipates the need for flexibility and applies a level of pragmatism to the delivery of the finished product.
agile test automation pyramid - The agile test automation pyramid is a graphical strategy guide for implementing automated software testing.
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 EBS (Elastic Block Store) - Amazon Elastic Block Store is a cloud-based block storage system provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that is best used for storing persistent data.
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.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) - AWS (Amazon Web Services) is a comprehensive, evolving cloud computing platform provided by Amazon.
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.
Apache Solr - Apache Solr is an open source search platform built upon a Java library called Lucene.
Apache Spark - Apache Spark is an open source parallel processing framework for running large-scale data analytics applications across clustered computers.
Apache ZooKeeper - Apache ZooKeeper is an open source file application program interface (API) that allows distributed processes in large systems to synchronize with each other so that all clients making requests receive consistent data.
application release automation (ARA) - Application release automation (ARA) is a process that automatically packages and deploys an application, or application updates, through the stages of development to production.
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.
AutoRABIT - AutoRABIT is an end-to-end release management suite specifically aimed at streamlining the development and release of Salesforce.
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.
behavior-driven development (BDD) - Behavior-driven development (BDD) is an Agile software development methodology in which an application is documented and designed around the behavior a user expects to experience when interacting with it.
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.
black box (black box testing) - Black box testing assesses a system solely from the outside, without the operator or tester knowing what is happening within the system to generate responses to test actions.
blue/green deployment - A blue/green deployment is a change management strategy for releasing software code.
boot loader (boot manager) - A boot loader, also called a 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.
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 is a systematic approach to managing all 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.
cloud IDE - A cloud IDE is a web-based integrated development platform.
cloud orchestration (cloud orchestrator) - Cloud orchestration is the use of programming technology to manage the interconnections and interactions among workloads on public and private cloud infrastructure.
cloud testing - Cloud testing is the process of using the cloud computing resources of a third-party service provider to test software applications.
CloudStack - Apache CloudStack is an open source infrastructure as a service (IaaS) platform that allows IT service providers to offer public cloud services.
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, usually with high degrees of automation.
continuous deployment - Continuous deployment is a strategy for software development and releases in which every code change is automatically run through a pipeline of tests and inspections before being pushed into production.
continuous integration (CI) - Continuous integration (CI) is a software development practice in which frequent, isolated changes are immediately tested and reported on when they're added to a larger codebase.
copyright - Copyright is a legal term describing ownership of control of the rights to the use and distribution of certain works of creative expression, including books, video, motion pictures, musical compositions and computer programs.
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 certification - DevOps certification is a formalized testing program intended to ensure that applicants have achieved an appropriate level of skills and knowledge for working in the converged areas of software development and IT operations.
DevOps Dojo - DevOps Dojos provide software developers and operations engineers with an immersive learning environment where team members can gain practical work experience without having to worry about introducing errors into the production environment.
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.
distributed tracing - Distributed tracing, also called distributed request tracing, is a method for IT and DevOps teams to monitor applications, especially those composed of microservices.
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.
emulation - Emulation, in a software context, is the use of an application program or device to imitate the behavior of another program or device.
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, pronounced gah-NOHM) is a graphical user interface (GUI) and set of computer desktop applications for users of the Linux operating system.
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 Cloud - Google Cloud is a suite of public cloud computing services offered by Google.
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.
GRUB (GRand Unified Bootloader) - GRUB (GRand Unified Bootloader) is a boot loader package developed to support multiple operating systems and allow the user to select among them during boot-up.
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.
high availability (HA) - High availability (HA) is the ability of a system to operate continuously without failing for a designated period of time.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is a form of cloud computing that provides virtualized computing resources over the internet.
infrastructure as code (IaC) - Infrastructure as code, also referred to as IaC, is an IT practice that codifies and manages underlying IT infrastructure as software.
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.
Istio - Istio is an independent, open source service mesh technology that enables developers to connect, secure, control, observe and run a distributed microservice architecture (MSA), regardless of platform, source or vendor.
IT automation - IT automation is the use of instructions to create a repeated process that replaces an IT professional's manual work in data centers and cloud deployments.
iteration - In agile software development, an iteration is a single development cycle, usually measured as one week or two weeks.
iterative development - Iterative development is a way of breaking down the software development lifecycle (SDLC) of a large application into smaller chunks.
Jenkins - Jenkins is an open source continuous integration/continuous delivery and deployment (CI/CD) automation software DevOps tool written in the Java programming language.