The Web Development Glossary 3K—More Than 3,000 Terms and Concepts for the Well-Rounded Developer

Published on July 27, 2023 (↻ November 5, 2024), filed under Development (RSS feed for all categories).

The Web Development Glossary is also available as a website! Explore WebGlossary.info to test your web development knowledge.

Web development is an increasingly large and complex field. It’s also a field that cannot be seen in isolation, for it intersects with and connects to many other disciplines, from computer science to design to process management.

There doesn’t seem to be a resource dedicated to web development and its neighbors, however, that makes a sustained attempt at gathering the fields’ many terms and concepts. Beginners have few options to get a feeling for the vast landscape, and experts have few places to turn to, either, when it comes to relatively quickly probing their understanding and identifying gaps in it.

Originally an experiment, this is what The Web Development Glossary is addressing. In this updated edition of the black book, The Web Development Glossary 3K features almost a thousand new terms as well as many additional internal references that make it easier to navigate.

Description

The Web Development Glossary is the largest of its kind. With more than 3,000 terms and explanations (“3K”), it is the book to try and extend your web development and web platform knowledge.

The glossary covers key terms and concepts of the Web, beginning with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, accessibility, security, performance, code quality and testing, internationalization, localization, frameworks and editors and tooling.

The glossary then includes other disciplines of interest and relevance to the modern developer, like computer science, design, typography, usability and user experience, information and project management and more.

It goes beyond web development to feed all your curiosity, about the Web and the technologies and processes used to build it. And still it is a glossary, of several thousand terms for developers, based on careful research as well as established sources, like Wikipedia, but also MDN Web Docs.

This new edition of The Web Development Glossary includes almost a thousand additional terms as well as major usability updates, like improved source and cross-reference navigation.

❧ I thank everyone who has over the years contributed to The Web Development Glossary. For this new edition, I particularly thank Victor Ma, who edited the manuscript. If this book improves your understanding of web development, then it’s also because of Victor.

About Me

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m a frontend engineering leader and tech author/publisher. I’ve worked as a technical lead for companies like Google and as an engineering manager for companies like Miro, I’m a contributor to several web standards, and I write and review books for O’Reilly and Frontend Dogma.

I love trying things, not only in web development (and engineering management), but also in other areas like philosophy. Here on meiert.com I share some of my experiences and views. (Please be critical, interpret charitably, and give feedback.)