General terms
Foundational concepts every developer needs in their toolkit
Some concepts underpin every language, framework, and paradigm in software development. This category captures the foundational vocabulary — from data types and memory models to recursion, abstraction, and computational complexity — that every developer needs regardless of their specialisation. If a term does not fit neatly elsewhere, it probably belongs here.
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Edges touching a General term. How edges work →
- Graph Databases Often seen in Polyglot Persistence 3d
- Maintainability Index Often seen in Static Analysis 6d
- Static Analysis Requires Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) May 26
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Input Validation vs Output Encoding 3Defence in Depth 2Idempotency 1Developer Experience (DX) 1Factory Pattern 1Dependency Audit & CVE Scanning 1UUID vs Auto-Increment IDs 1Repository Pattern 1
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Error Recovery Patterns
Design strategies for gracefully handling failures and restoring system functionality without data loss or user disruption.
1mo ago
general intermediate
Technical Writing for Developers
The craft of writing documentation, READMEs, design docs, RFCs, and comments clearly enough that another engineer can act on them without asking you — a force multiplier that most developers undertrain.
2mo ago
general beginner
Bike-Shedding
Spending disproportionate time on trivial, visible decisions (tab vs space, variable naming) while complex, important decisions receive inadequate attention.
3mo ago
general beginner
Code Freeze & Release Management
A period stopping new features entering a release branch — feature flags and continuous delivery eliminate the need for long freezes.
3mo ago
general intermediate
Cognitive Load in Code Design
The mental effort required to understand code — good design minimises extraneous cognitive load so developers can focus on the problem, not the code structure.
3mo ago
general intermediate
Database Seeding & Fixture Management
PHP 5.0+
Populating databases with consistent, reproducible test and development data — using factories, seeders, and fixtures to create realistic scenarios without manual data entry.
3mo ago
general intermediate
Dependency Audit & CVE Scanning
PHP 5.0+
Automated scanning of project dependencies for known vulnerabilities (CVEs) — composer audit, npm audit, and tools like Snyk run in CI to catch vulnerable packages before deployment.
3mo ago
general intermediate
Dependency Management Philosophy
PHP 5.3+
Every dependency is a liability — prefer few well-maintained packages; pin versions via composer.lock; audit regularly.
3mo ago
general intermediate
Feature Teams vs Component Teams
Feature teams own end-to-end delivery across the stack; component teams own a layer — feature teams ship faster but need platform support.
3mo ago
general intermediate
Hofstadter's Law
"It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take Hofstadter's Law into account" — software estimation is systematically and recursively optimistic.
3mo ago
general beginner
InnerSource
Open-source collaboration practices inside an organisation — any team can contribute to any internal repository, reducing silos.
3mo ago
general intermediate
Pareto Principle in Engineering
The 80/20 rule — roughly 80% of effects come from 20% of causes. In engineering: 80% of bugs come from 20% of modules, 80% of performance gains from 20% of optimisations.
3mo ago
general beginner
Polyglot Persistence
1
Using multiple different database technologies in a single application — each chosen for what it does best rather than forcing all data into one general-purpose store.
3mo ago
general advanced
Runbooks & Playbooks
Documented step-by-step procedures for handling operational tasks and incidents — ensuring any on-call engineer can respond correctly under pressure without tribal knowledge.
3mo ago
general beginner
Technical Roadmap Planning
Planning future technical investments framed as business outcomes — making technical work visible alongside product features.
3mo ago
general intermediate
ACID Properties
PHP 5.0+ The four guarantees of database transactions: Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability.
3mo ago
general intermediate
Adapter Pattern
PHP 5.0+ Converts the interface of a class into another interface clients expect, allowing incompatible interfaces to work together.
3mo ago
general intermediate
Allowlist vs Blocklist
PHP 5.0+ Allowlists define what is permitted; blocklists define what is forbidden. Allowlists are always more secure.
3mo ago
general beginner
Architecture Decision Records (ADRs)
Short documents capturing the context, decision, and rationale for significant architectural choices — creating an institutional memory of why the system is built the way it is.
3mo ago
general beginner
Attack Surface
PHP 5.0+ The sum of all points where an attacker can try to enter or extract data from a system.
3mo ago
general intermediate