Glossary for Software Terms Commonly Used

Customer Feedback: Input and opinions from users that help shape the product's development. 

Customer Support: Assistance provided to users to resolve issues and answer questions. 

Agile: A software development methodology that emphasizes flexibility, collaboration, and iterative development. 

Development Time & Runtime: Development time refers to the period during which software is being created or modified by developers. Runtime, on the other hand, is the period when the software is actively executing and performing its functions, typically after it has been deployed. 

Kanban: A visual project management system that helps teams track and manage work in progress. 

Scrum: An Agile framework that organizes work into time-boxed iterations called sprints. 

SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle): The SDLC is a framework that outlines the processes and stages involved in the development of software, from its initiation to deployment and maintenance. 

API Documentation: Documentation for developers on how to integrate with the software's API. 

Reference documentation: Reference documentation provides in-depth technical information about the components, functions, and APIs of a software system, often used by developers for implementation and integration. 

Software documentation: It is used to describe several types of documentation associated with software development, including user guides, technical specifications, and code comments. 

User Documentation: Guides and manuals to help users understand and use the software.

View Models (soft architecture): View models represent abstract representations of specific aspects of a system's structure or behavior. They help in understanding and communicating complex software architectures. 

Analytics: The collection and analysis of data to gain insights into user behavior and product performance. (Performance Dashboard) 

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Quantifiable metrics used to measure the success and performance of the product.

Freemium: Offering a free version of the product with premium features available for purchase. 

Subscription Model: Charging users on a recurring basis for access to the software. 

Minimum Marketable Product (MMP): The MMP is the version of a product with the minimum set of features required for it to be released to the market while still providing value to users. It goes beyond the MVP by including features that make the product marketable. 

Minimum Viable Product (MVP): The earliest version of a product that includes only the essential features to meet user needs and gain feedback. 

Nightly: Nightly builds refer to the automated process of compiling and generating a build of the software every night. This allows development teams to identify and address integration issues early in the development process. 

Product Roadmap: A strategic document outlining the features and development goals for a software product over time. 

Epic stories: Epic stories are large, high-level user stories that encapsulate multiple smaller stories. They help in breaking down large features or requirements into more manageable and comprehensible pieces.

FTE (Full-time Equivalent): It is a unit of measurement that allows you to match personnel with projects.

Functional Requirements: Functional requirements outline the specific features and capabilities a software system must have to meet its users' needs. They describe what the system should do. 

Non-Functional Requirements: Non-functional requirements specify the criteria that are not related to specific behaviors or features but rather define how a system should perform, such as scalability, security, reliability, and performance.

Product Manager: The person responsible for defining the product's features, roadmap, and strategy. 

Quality Attributes: Quality attributes, also known as non-functional requirements, define the aspects of a system's operation that are not related to specific behaviors or features but impact the overall performance, security, and maintainability of the software. 

ROI (Return on Investment): It is the financial and business benefits of implementing a software application. It will quantify the potential of a software application to increase revenue, decrease costs, improve customer satisfaction, and achieve operational efficiencies. 

User Story: A brief, user-centric description of a software feature's functionality. 

Automated Testing: The use of scripts and software tools to perform testing tasks. 

Hydro Testing: A phase in the testing process where our internal Hydrologists will evaluate the software to ensure that it aligns with their needs and expectations. 

Quality Assurance (QA): The process of ensuring that a software product meets specified quality standards. 

Regression Testing: Testing to ensure that new code changes do not adversely affect existing functionality. 

Scrum Testing: In the context of Scrum, testing activities are done within the Scrum framework. This involves testing the increments delivered in each sprint and ensuring that the software meets the acceptance criteria defined in collaboration with stakeholders. 

Smoke testing: An initial, high-level test that checks whether the most critical functionalities of a software application work correctly. It is performed to determine if further, more detailed testing is necessary.

Unit Testing: The testing of individual units or components of a software application to ensure they function as intended. It is often the first level of testing in the development process and focuses on isolating each part of the code for examination. 

User Testing: A phase in the testing process where actual users or representatives of the end-users evaluate the software to ensure that it aligns with their needs and expectations. Also known as user acceptance testing (UAT). 

Alpha Testing: Testing a pre-release version of the product with a selected group of users. This release is not maintained or supported, this is purely for user testing and feedback purpose. (Released with license). 

Beta Release: Release a patch, bug fix or an extension for actual release. 

Rollout (Release): The process of deploying the latest version of the software to users. 

FinOps financial operations: FinOps is a set of practices that aims to optimize the costs of cloud computing, combining financial accountability with operational and engineering practices to improve the efficiency of cloud spending. 

Scalability: The ability of the software to handle increased load and user growth.

Australian Signal Directorate: ASD is an Australian government agency responsible for providing signals intelligence and information security. 

Authorisation: It is the process of granting or denying access to resources based on a user's identity, permissions, and privileges. It ensures that users have the appropriate level of access to perform specific actions. 

Backdoor: A backdoor is a hidden or undocumented method of bypassing normal authentication or gaining unauthorized access to a computer system, often installed for malicious purposes. 

Cyber-insurance: or cybersecurity insurance, is a type of insurance coverage designed to protect businesses and individuals from the financial consequences of cybersecurity incidents, such as data breaches or cyberattacks. 

Cybersecurity: Measures and practices to protect the software and user data from security threats. 

Essential Eight Maturity Model: The Essential Eight Maturity Model is a framework developed by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) that outlines essential strategies to mitigate cybersecurity threats. 

IETF (internet engineering task force): The IETF is an international community that develops and promotes voluntary Internet standards. It plays a crucial role in the development of protocols and standards for the Internet. 

Malicious User: A malicious user is an individual who intentionally engages in harmful or unauthorized activities, such as attempting to exploit vulnerabilities, compromise security, or disrupt the functionality of a system. 

Penetration Testing: Assessing the software's security by simulating cyberattacks. 

Privacy: Privacy in the context of software and data security refers to protecting individuals' personal information and ensuring compliance with privacy regulations and laws. 

Vulnerabilities (NVD CVN): The National Vulnerability Database (NVD) Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) Numbering (CVN) system is a standardized way to uniquely identify and track vulnerabilities in software and hardware. 

Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Deployment (CD): Practices that automate the building, testing, and deployment of software changes. 

DevOps: A set of practices that combines development (Dev) and operations (Ops) to improve collaboration, automate processes, and deliver software more efficiently. 

IaC infrastructure as code: IaC is a practice in software development where infrastructure is defined and managed using code and automation. Instead of manually configuring servers and infrastructure, developers use scripts or declarative definitions to automate the provisioning and management of infrastructure. 

IDE (Integrated Development Environment): A software suite that provides tools for coding, debugging, and testing. 

IdP (Identity Provider): An Identity Provider is a system responsible for authenticating and verifying the identity of users in a network. It is commonly used in Single Sign-On (SSO) setups, where a user can access multiple systems or applications with a single set of login credentials. 

LaaS: Logging as a Service is a cloud-based solution that provides centralized logging capabilities for applications and systems. It involves outsourcing the storage, analysis, and management of logs to a third-party service. 

SaaS software as a service: SaaS refers to a software distribution model where applications are hosted by a third-party provider and made available to customers over the internet. Users can access the software without the need for installation, as it is centrally hosted and maintained. 

Version Control: A system for tracking and managing changes to code, often using Git.

Next Patch/ Maintenance Release: The issues that will be part of the next Beta release or patch. 

Next Production Release: The issues that will be worked on and released as part of the next rollout. 

Urgent: The issues that will be worked on urgent basis, irrespective of Patch or production releases. Could be a potential bug.

Accessibility: Accessibility in software design ensures that products are usable by people with disabilities. It involves creating interfaces and interactions that can be easily navigated and understood by a diverse range of users. 

Usability: Usability refers to the overall ease with which users can interact with a software product. It encompasses factors such as efficiency, learnability, satisfaction, and error prevention, contributing to a positive user experience. 

User Experience (UX): The overall experience and usability of a software product from the user's perspective. 

User Interface (UI): The visual elements and design of a software application.