It’s alright if you think “C Sharp” is nothing more than a musical note, and Perl is something only found in the ocean –but as for the rest of the items on this list, as a business owner in 2016 it’s time to get wise of these software development basics.
I think that it is pretty safe to say that business vocabulary is rife with acronyms and tech-speak –at nauseam. Every white paper we read and every meeting we attend from marketing on to software development is littered with acronyms. To a lot of business owners and CEOs, the terms and acronyms that are laced throughout meaningful business conversations are cumbersome. For others they are a downright nuisance.
Einstein once said that if you cannot explain something simply, you do not know the subject matter well enough. Today’s executives would disagree. A basic understanding of complex topics can go a long way to get today’s business owners up to speed –and not the other way around; forcing your executives and production staff to dumb down every discussion into simple “normal people” speak is time consuming and wasteful. To learn more about these and other software development basics, click here for more information.
So in order to not come across as a technology-starved Luddite, there are probably a few things you as a business owner should know in order to carry on meaningful discussions with your peers, department managers, and low-level employees. Because if Jeb the mail boy has a better comprehension of what AWS is and how it can deliver web-based assets to your customers faster and you do not, well, that probably isn’t a good thing.
From the development of a streamlined solution to a complex product set, staying abreast of common software development basics will probably translate into smarter decision making which could lead to improving your bottom line or helping you to work more cohesively with your own team.
Common Terms and Basics in Web-Based Software Development
1. Responsive Web Design
Responsive web design is an approach to design that allows the contents of a page to shift around or disappear based on the screen size and resolution of the device that is displayed on.
2. AWS (Amazon Web Services)
Amazon Web Services are relatively inexpensive cloud based IT infrastructure resources. Commonly used in cloud computing, AWS can host rich media in a separate environment from your website for speedier serving to website visitors, or they can process complex tasks on speedy Amazon servers (cloud computing).
3. Programming Languages
Several programming languages are typically used in tandem with one another to communicate instructions which dictate how a machine works. Some popular programming languages include Java, Javascript, Python, C., C# (C Sharp), Ruby, PHP, Objective-C, and SQL (pronounced “sequel”).
4. Agile and Waterfall
Agile is more than an adjective, and Waterfall is more than a noun. Both are methodologies which dictate how a technological solution is produced. Agile is a the most popular because it is one of the most efficient ways to craft a solution, allowing for the release of a core product quickly to market by breaking it into quick sprints and making iterative releases as the overall solution is coming together.
5. Wire frame Sketches
Wire frame sketches are somewhat rough mock-ups of what a finished product will look like once it is complete. They can help visualize a solution before it is built and is a must-have during the initial planning phase of any software solution.
To end, knowing some basic words and terminologies in software development will help you to avoid any misunderstanding between you and your software developer. It’s best to understand such technical words in layman’s terms rather than assuming what it really means as you may have a different understanding of it.
Getting a full understanding on such terms will benefit you and your software developer in creating software that will really fit with your business needs. It also allows you to create smarter decisions for the benefit of your company.
Image by Kaptain Kobold via Flickr
