Terms starting with "W"
WebAuthn & Passkeys
Phishing-resistant public-key authentication where the browser signs a server challenge with a device-bound or synced private key.
CWE-287 OWASP A07:2021
3w ago
Security advanced
7.5
Wikidata as Knowledge Source
Using Wikidata's collaboratively-edited RDF knowledge graph as a structured source of entities, properties, and facts for downstream systems.
2mo ago
Knowledge Engineering intermediate
WebAssembly (Wasm)
A binary instruction format that runs at near-native speed in the browser and on servers — enabling C, Rust, and Go code to run alongside JavaScript without plugins.
6mo ago
Frontend advanced
Web Locks API — Coordinating Across Tabs
HTML5
The Web Locks API lets JavaScript in the same origin coordinate exclusive or shared access to a named resource across multiple tabs, workers, or iframes — a browser-native mutex.
6mo ago
JavaScript intermediate
Web Share API
HTML5
1
navigator.share() invokes the native OS share sheet on mobile — letting users share URLs, text, and files via any app installed on their device.
6mo ago
JavaScript beginner
Webhooks vs Message Queues
Webhooks push events via HTTP to a registered URL (caller waits for response); message queues decouple sender and receiver — queues are more reliable but require consumer infrastructure.
6mo ago
Messaging beginner
Write-Ahead Log (WAL)
3
A durability technique where changes are written to an append-only log before being applied to the database — if the system crashes, the log is replayed to restore the database to a consistent state.
6mo ago
Database advanced
Walrus Operator (:=)
Python 3.8+
The assignment expression operator (Python 3.8+) — assigns a value while also using it in an expression, eliminating repeated computations in while loops and comprehensions.
6mo ago
Python intermediate
Weak Password Hash
PHP 5.5+
1
Using MD5, SHA-1, or SHA-256 to hash passwords — fast algorithms designed for data integrity, not authentication, crackable in seconds with a GPU.
6mo ago
Security beginner
Weak Random Function
PHP 7.0+
Using rand(), mt_rand(), or array_rand() for security-sensitive values — these are predictable pseudo-random generators not suitable for tokens, keys, or passwords.
6mo ago
Security intermediate
WeakRef & FinalizationRegistry
ES2021
WeakRef holds a weak reference allowing GC to collect the object — used for memory-safe caches. FinalizationRegistry runs a callback when an object is collected.
6mo ago
JavaScript advanced
Web Components
ES2018
2
Browser-native custom elements, shadow DOM, and HTML templates — framework-agnostic reusable components that work in React, Vue, plain HTML, and anywhere.
6mo ago
JavaScript advanced
Web Crypto API
ES2015
4
Browser-native cryptographic operations — crypto.subtle provides AES-GCM encryption, ECDSA signing, PBKDF2 key derivation, and SHA digests without external libraries.
6mo ago
JavaScript advanced
Web Font Loading Strategy
CSS3
Controlling how custom fonts load to avoid FOIT (invisible text), FOUT (flash of unstyled text), and layout shift — using font-display, preloading, and system font stacks.
6mo ago
Frontend intermediate
Web Push Notifications
PHP 7.0+
1
Sending notifications to users even when the browser is closed — using the Push API, Service Worker, and Web Push Protocol with VAPID authentication.
6mo ago
Mobile advanced
Webhook Design
PHP 5.0+
1
Best practices for reliable webhooks — HMAC signature verification, idempotency, delivery retry with exponential backoff, and handling slow consumers with queues.
6mo ago
API Design intermediate
Worker Pool Patterns
PHP 5.0+
Fixed pool of pre-spawned workers for parallel tasks — avoiding per-task process spawn overhead.
6mo ago
Performance advanced
WCAG Guidelines
3
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines — the international standard defining how to make web content accessible to people with disabilities, organised into three conformance levels (A, AA, AAA).
6mo ago
Accessibility intermediate
Weak Cryptography
PHP 5.0+
10
Using MD5 or SHA1 for passwords or security tokens — both are cryptographically broken and trivially reversible.
CWE-327 OWASP A2:2021
6mo ago
Security intermediate
7.5
Weak References (WeakReference, WeakMap)
PHP 7.4+
2
References to objects that don't prevent garbage collection — useful for caches and observer registries that shouldn't extend object lifetimes.
6mo ago
PHP advanced