Intermediate terms
Technical Debt
PHP 5.0+
2
The accumulated cost of shortcuts, suboptimal decisions, and deferred refactoring — 'debt' that accrues interest over time as it slows development.
3mo ago
quality intermediate
Tell Don't Ask Principle
PHP 5.0+
Tell objects what to do rather than asking for their state and deciding externally — keep behaviour with the data it operates on.
3mo ago
quality intermediate
Template Method Pattern
Defines the skeleton of an algorithm in a base class, deferring specific steps to subclasses without changing the algorithm's structure.
3mo ago
quality intermediate
Temporary Field
1
A class field that is only set and used in certain circumstances — most of the time it is empty or null, confusing readers.
3mo ago
quality intermediate
Test Data Builders
PHP 7.0+
A pattern for constructing test objects with sensible defaults that can be selectively overridden — reducing test setup noise and making the relevant data explicit.
3mo ago
testing intermediate
Test Fixtures & setUp() Best Practices
Managing test state with setUp()/tearDown(), object mothers, and factories — keeping tests isolated, readable, and fast.
3mo ago
testing intermediate
Test Isolation Strategies
PHP 7.0+
Ensuring each test starts from a known clean state — using database transactions, in-memory fakes, or container resets so tests don't bleed state into each other.
3mo ago
testing intermediate
Test-Driven Development (TDD)
PHP 5.0+ A development practice where tests are written before production code, driving design through the Red-Green-Refactor cycle.
3mo ago
testing intermediate
Testing with pytest
Python 3.6+
pytest is Python's dominant testing framework — its fixture system, parametrize decorator, and plugin ecosystem make it more powerful and less verbose than unittest.
3mo ago
python intermediate
this Binding in JavaScript
ES5
this is determined by how a function is called — call site, not definition site — with arrow functions as the exception (lexical this).
3mo ago
javascript intermediate
Threat Intelligence
Evidence-based knowledge about attackers, their TTPs, and indicators of compromise — used to prioritise and inform defensive decisions.
3mo ago
security intermediate
Threat Modelling
PHP 5.0+ A structured analysis process for identifying security threats, attack vectors, and appropriate countermeasures during design.
3mo ago
general intermediate
Three Pillars of Observability
Logs (events), metrics (measurements), and traces (request flows) are the three pillars of observability — together they answer 'what happened, how much, and where.'
3mo ago
devops intermediate
Time Complexity (Big O)
A notation describing how an algorithm's execution time grows relative to input size — O(1), O(n), O(n log n), O(n²)…
3mo ago
performance intermediate
Timezone Handling
PHP 5.0+ Storing dates as UTC and converting to local timezones only for display — prevents DST bugs, ambiguous times, and incorrect date arithmetic.
3mo ago
i18n intermediate
TLS Handshake
2
The negotiation process between client and server that establishes an encrypted HTTPS connection, agreeing on cipher suites and exchanging keys.
3mo ago
networking intermediate
Traits
PHP 5.4+
1
Reusable code blocks that can be mixed into any class, providing horizontal code reuse without inheritance.
3mo ago
php intermediate
Transpilation
1
Converting source code from one language or version to another at the same abstraction level — Babel transpiles modern JS to older JS, Rector transpiles old PHP to new PHP.
3mo ago
compiler intermediate
Trunk-Based Development
All developers integrate small, frequent commits directly into a single shared branch (trunk/main), avoiding long-lived feature branches.
3mo ago
devops intermediate
tsconfig.json
4.0
4
The TypeScript compiler configuration file — controlling which files are compiled, what JavaScript version is targeted, strictness settings, and module resolution.
3mo ago
typescript intermediate