| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Client | User-facing application that sends requests |
| Server | System that processes requests and returns responses |
| Backend | Server-side logic layer |
| Frontend | User interface layer |
| API | Interface to communicate between systems |
| REST API | HTTP-based stateless API architecture |
| Stateless | Server stores no session information |
| Stateful | Server maintains session state |
| MVC | Design pattern separating model, view, controller |
| Layered Architecture | Separation into UI, logic, and data layers |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| HTTP | Protocol for client-server communication |
| HTTPS | Encrypted HTTP communication |
| TCP | Reliable connection-oriented protocol |
| UDP | Fast connectionless protocol |
| DNS | Resolves domain names to IP addresses |
| CDN | Delivers static content from nearest server |
| Latency | Time taken to respond to a request |
| Throughput | Number of requests handled per second |
| Bandwidth | Maximum data transfer capacity |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Database | Persistent data storage system |
| SQL | Structured relational database |
| NoSQL | Non-relational scalable database |
| Schema | Structure of stored data |
| Index | Data structure for fast lookup |
| Primary Key | Unique identifier for records |
| Foreign Key | Reference to another table’s primary key |
| Normalization | Reducing data redundancy |
| Denormalization | Adding redundancy for performance |
| ACID | Database transaction guarantees |
| Read-heavy | System with more reads than writes |
| Write-heavy | System with more writes than reads |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Cache | Temporary fast data storage |
| Redis | In-memory key-value cache |
| Cache Hit | Requested data found in cache |
| Cache Miss | Requested data not in cache |
| TTL | Time after which cache expires |
| Cache Invalidation | Removing outdated cached data |
| Write-through Cache | Writes update cache and DB together |
| Write-back Cache | Writes update cache first, DB later |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Scalability | Ability to handle increased load |
| Horizontal Scaling | Adding more machines |
| Vertical Scaling | Increasing machine capacity |
| Load Balancer | Distributes traffic across servers |
| Auto-scaling | Automatically adjust server count |
| Bottleneck | Component limiting performance |
| SPOF | Single component causing system failure |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Distributed System | System running on multiple machines |
| Monolith | Single deployable application |
| Microservices | Independent services per feature |
| Service Discovery | Mechanism to locate services |
| Inter-service Communication | Data exchange between services |