User:Martyav/Apps/Tutorial/Glossary

A

 * Action API: A way to access, via GET and POST requests, certain MediaWiki features, such as an article or a list of images. See Action API for more.

B

 * Backend: Code that deals with things the user does not immediately see, such as formatting text input into a GET request and sending it to a server.

C

 * Client: Any device that makes requests to a server, such as a laptop or mobile phone.

F

 * Flask: A web framework that allows programmers to write backend code in Python.
 * Frontend: Code that deals with visual presentation and user interactions, such as animating a button when a user clicks on it.

G

 * GET request: A standard HTTP method for asking a server to retrieve data.

H

 * HTTP: The official system of rules for sending data over the web.

I

 * Import: Add pre-written code to a project, to facilitate common tasks, such as making HTTP requests

J

 * Javascript: A programming language used primarily for handling frontend and backend code on the web.
 * JSON: Javascript Object Notation, a format for data sent over the web; it uses Javascript objects and looks something like this:

M

 * MediaWiki: The software Wikipedia and many other popular wikis run on.

P

 * Percent encoding: Special formatting applied to a string intended to be used as part of a web address in an HTTP request. It removes special characters, such as spaces, and replaces them with character codes, which are combinations of digits prefixed with a percentage sign; for example, %20. See percent encoding.
 * POST request: A standard HTTP method asking that a server alter some data. See Hypertext_Transfer_Protocol.
 * Python: A programming language used for many different kinds of tasks, including backend code on the web. See Python.

R

 * Request: Information sent to a server, asking for certain data that the server has access to.
 * Response: The data sent back from a server after a request has been made. It usually comes in the form of XML or JSON.

S

 * Server: A computer that is accessible over a network, such as the web, and which is dedicated to serving data, including wiki pages, to other devices.
 * Status code: A three digit code, such as 404, indicating if a request to a server has succeeded or failed. It is sent from the server to the client immediately upon receiving a request. Status code 200 means that the request succeeded, while codes that start with4 indicate different kinds of failure.

W

 * Wiki: A website that allows people to collaborate and edit pages together.
 * Wikipedia: An online encyclopedia that runs on Wikimedia software. It's located at https://www.wikipedia.org.

X

 * XML: Extensible Markup Language, a format for data sent over the web, it uses angle brackets and tags, and looks something like this: