Terms starting with "B"
Big-O Notation
PHP 5.0+
6
A mathematical notation describing how an algorithm's time or space requirements grow relative to input size, ignoring constants and lower-order terms.
6mo ago
Algorithms intermediate
Binary Trees
PHP 5.0+
5
A hierarchical structure where each node has at most two children — Binary Search Trees enable O(log n) search, while balanced variants (AVL, Red-Black) guarantee it.
6mo ago
Data Structures intermediate
bind_param()
PHP 5.1+
3
MySQLi method that binds PHP variables to prepared statement parameters, preventing SQL injection.
6mo ago
PHP intermediate
Bit Manipulation
1
Using bitwise operators (AND, OR, XOR, NOT, shifts) to manipulate individual bits — enabling compact storage, fast arithmetic, and O(1) set operations.
6mo ago
Algorithms intermediate
Blameless Culture
2
An organisational norm where incidents and mistakes are treated as systemic learning opportunities rather than individual failures deserving punishment.
6mo ago
General beginner
Blameless Post-Mortem
PHP 5.0+
3
A structured review of an incident focused on systemic causes and improvements, not individual blame — making it safe to surface failures.
6mo ago
DevOps intermediate
Bloom Filter
PHP 7.0+ A probabilistic data structure that tests set membership in O(1) time and O(1) space, with a tunable false-positive rate and zero false negatives.
6mo ago
Data Structures advanced
Blue/Green Deployment
PHP 5.0+
6
Maintaining two identical production environments and switching traffic between them for zero-downtime releases and instant rollback.
6mo ago
DevOps intermediate
Boolean Parameters (Flag Arguments Smell)
A boolean parameter that switches a function between two different behaviours — a sign the function should be split into two.
6mo ago
Style beginner
Bounded Context (DDD)
6
An explicit boundary within which a domain model and its ubiquitous language apply — the same term may mean different things in different contexts.
6mo ago
Architecture advanced
Boy Scout Rule
2
Always leave the codebase slightly cleaner than you found it — small, consistent improvements prevent entropy accumulation.
6mo ago
Code Quality beginner
Broken Access Control
PHP 5.0+
1
Failure to enforce what authenticated users are allowed to do — the #1 OWASP vulnerability, enabling privilege escalation and data exposure.
CWE-284 OWASP A1:2021
6mo ago
Security intermediate
8.8
Brooks's Law
1
"Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later" — new developers require onboarding time and increase communication overhead before contributing productively.
6mo ago
General intermediate
Browser Storage APIs
HTML5
1
localStorage, sessionStorage, IndexedDB, and cookies — different scopes, capacities, and access patterns for client-side data persistence.
6mo ago
Frontend beginner
Brute Force Attack
PHP 5.0+
1
Systematically trying every possible password or key until the correct one is found.
CWE-307 OWASP A7:2021
6mo ago
Security beginner
7.5
Bug Bounty Programme
1
A programme offering financial rewards to security researchers who responsibly disclose vulnerabilities in a vendor's systems.
6mo ago
General beginner
Builder Pattern
PHP 5.0+
1
Constructs complex objects step-by-step using a fluent interface, separating construction from representation.
6mo ago
Code Quality intermediate
Built-in PHP Attributes
PHP 8.0+
PHP 8.0+ ships built-in attributes — #[Deprecated], #[Override], #[AllowDynamicProperties], #[SensitiveParameter] — for tooling and runtime hints.
6mo ago
PHP intermediate
Bulkhead Pattern
4
Isolating system components into separate resource pools so a failure in one doesn't cascade and exhaust resources for others.
6mo ago
Architecture advanced
Bus Factor
3
The minimum number of team members who could be incapacitated before a project stalls — a measure of knowledge concentration risk.
6mo ago
General beginner