An algorithm for constructing the smallest shape that wraps a collection of points.

When you explore a search space and you reach a dead end, you follow your tracks back to the last crossroad and try…

Violence is actually almost always a solution, but not a very clever one.

An algorithm that finds a solution by always picking the currently best-looking option without thinking too much about…

Starting somewhere in the hilly "landscape" of solutions, you go in the direction of steepest ascent until reaching…

A type of priority queue and a reference to the infamously unorganized queues in Israel. Here items can cut in line…

In this data structure, items are always added at the end and removed at the front as if the items were waiting in line.

An ancient algorithm for finding all prime numbers up to a given limit. Non-primes are methodically sifted out, like…

An optimization algorithm inspired by the metallurgical process of annealing, where slowly cooling a heated material…

Like with a stack of pancakes, you can only add and remove items from the top of this data structure.

A hierarchically organized data structure. From the root item, the other items branch out into nodes and leaves. A…

Allows classes with incompatible interfaces to work together by wrapping its own interface around that of an already…

Adds new responsibilities to an object by wrapping it in a layer of additional behavior, just as you can decorate a…

Analogous to a facade in architecture, a facade is an object that serves as a front-facing interface masking more…

An anti-pattern where a single object knows too much or does too much. Like a god, it is omniscient and omnipotent.

A representation of a result that is available in the future, unless there are errors. Like in reality, promises are…

A programming antipattern where, in a single change, you wildly add code everywhere in your codebase.

A program with a tangled and hard-to-follow structure.

Like a blanket being folded up, this function iterates a collection and in each step combines the current item with…

Parser function that greedily consumes an input stream until it's satisfied.

Continuously runs functions that themselves return functions. Like a child on a trampoline that returns and bounces…

Merges two lists into one list of pairs like the interlocking teeth of a zipper.

A method of bypassing normal authentication in a computer system.

A secret value placed on the stack to detect buffer overflow attacks. If it has been altered, danger is near — just…

A computer program that self-replicates by infecting other computer programs, similar to the behavior of biological…

Steps and practices that users should take to maintain system health and improve online security.

Part of a system meant to look like an attractive target but actually helps detect and deflect attackers.

Refers to the use of lures to "fish" for sensitive information.

When a system (e.g. stolen computer) secretly reports back to a third party other than the current possessor. The name…

A safe and isolated environment to test unverified programs that may contain malicious code.

Malware which misleads users of its true intent. The term is derived from the Ancient Greek story of the deceptive…

A mechanism allowing models to selectively focus on the most relevant parts of their input, just as humans direct…

A tabular summary of a classifier's "confusion", i.e., how often it thought to make correct predictions when it…

A boundary dividing the space of possible data points. Here you decide, everything on this side is SPAM, everything on…

Randomly disabling neurons during training to prevent overfitting. Like a sports team that improves by practicing with…

Minimizing a cost function by iteratively computing the gradient and moving in the direction of steepest descent.

A confident response by an AI that does not seem to be justified by its training data.

The process of showing the machine a bunch of examples, until it learns what we want from it.

A programming paradigm where programs are compositions of interactions among multiple concurrent participants.

A functional language making extensive use of closures but with a j because it's running on the Java virtual machine.

Although C was certainly a bad name, C++ was quite clever. The iconic increment operator ++ indicates that C++ is the…

Part of a program that attempts to find and reclaim garbage pieces of memory not used anymore.

An evaluation strategy which suspends evaluation until it's absolutely necessary and then never does it again.

Syntax that makes the language "sweeter" for human use. Usually a shorthand for common operations that can also be…

Turing machines that produce numbers so insanely large, no other algorithm can keep up with them.

The problem of finding groups of mutual friends in a network of people with friendship relations. Or more generally,…

A game world that showcases how astonishing complexity can arise from very simple ingredients.

A black box that magically gives answers even to undecidable questions like the halting problem.

The fact that in some formal languages any sufficiently long string can be pumped with repetitions of its substring…

Sandboxing tool forming a protective layer for your system.

Terminal app to keep macOS from "sleeping".

A JavaScript library implementing the actor model for concurrent computation. The term is a reference to George…

Database application, that is marketed as being so fault-tolerant and resilient as a cockroach.

The process that turns metal into rust (literally), but also a tool that "turns" C++ into Rust.

Like git bisect but can cope with flaky tests using Bayesian inference.

Pure Go implementation of the _br_otli compression algorithm. Also a reference to the go brrr meme.

Splits a file into encrypted fragments that only together can be decrypted again. In the Harry Potter universe,…

A browser automation library. If the browser is the puppet, this is the puppeteer.

Web browser developed by Apple.

Simplified man pages with practical examples.

A JavaScript minifier. Removes everything that makes the code readable and pretty to make it smaller.

A dog-themed uploader component. The name is a blend of upload and puppy. It even comes with a crash recovery plugin…

A bundler for JavaScript and other web assets with a short and descriptive name that also somewhat rhymes.

Node.js dependency manager.

A grid-based layout resembling the compartmentation of bento boxes.

Navigational aid allowing users to keep track of their location within programs, documents, or websites. The term is a…

A kind of animated slideshow looping back on itself.

Where you temporarily put files you are working with (i.e. the copy & paste buffer).

The metaphorical top of the user's desk, upon which objects such as documents and folders of documents can be placed.

A button to toggle a menu. The associated icon resembles a hamburger.

User interfaces that assume expensive operations will complete successfully, thereby improving the perceived…

Screen content is often less like a book with discrete pages and more like a continuous roll of parchment, i.e., a…

A small message that briefly pops up at the edge of the screen and then disappears on its own, just like toast from a…

Abbreviating long words by keeping the first and last letter and writing the number of omitted letters in between.

Acronyms describing competing database ideologies (aka. SQL vs. NoSQL). Note that acid and base are also opposites in…

A central part of a network/application that significantly limits throughput/performance and should ideally be…

When your device is so corrupted, it virtually turns into a brick.

Different case styles where the name illustrates its appearance.

Writing a program in as few characters as possible. Just like how Golf players try to win in the fewest club strokes.

E.g., claiming a GitHub issue, then not working on it.

A hidden feature, especially in video games, in reference to the Easter egg hunt.

The ware between software and hardware.

This representation can encode numbers at very different magnitudes with a limited amount of digits by letting the…

In software architecture (like in actual architecture), frameworks provide a basic structure to build upon, guiding…

Jenga and LEGO bricks don't share the same interface, but you can always glue them together.

Chinas controversial internet censorship system and a reference to the Great Wall of China.

A periodic signal a system sends to confirm it is still alive and functioning, just like a pulse.

A bug that seems to disappear or change when one tries to study it. It's a pun on Werner Heisenberg, who discovered…

A bug that, when an attempt to fix it is made, introduces multiple new bugs. It's a bug that cannot be fixed.

A magic program/piece of code is doing its job, but nobody knows how. Like in reality, magic doesn't actually exist.…

A problem where a process is perpetually denied resources to do its work.

The implied future cost of shortcuts taken today, which accumulates like financial debt and must eventually be paid…

Stepping back in time through source code to understand execution and sometimes even to change history.

Shake the dependency tree until all the dead parts are falling off and you end up with a nice lean tree.

A program that outputs all even numbers and then all odd numbers generates an unfair enumeration of the natural…

When you write if ("red" === color) { instead of if (color === "red") { because it reads as, “if red equals the…