Software Lexicon

Architecting Reliability: The Frameworks and Tools of Modern Computing.

A | B | C | D | F | G | I | K | M | O | R | S | V

A

  • API (Application Programming Interface): A set of definitions and protocols for building and integrating application software, allowing disparate systems to communicate.
  • Agile Development: An iterative approach to software development that emphasizes flexibility, continuous feedback, and rapid releases.

C

  • CI/CD (Continuous Integration / Continuous Deployment): A method to frequently deliver apps to customers by introducing automation into the stages of app development.
  • Containerization: Encapsulating an application and its dependencies in a container (e.g., Docker) to ensure it runs uniformly across different environments.

D

  • DevOps: A set of practices that combines software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops) to shorten the systems development life cycle.
  • Docker: An open-source platform that automates the deployment, scaling, and management of applications within lightweight containers.

G

  • Git: A distributed version-control system for tracking changes in source code during software development.

K

  • Kubernetes (K8s): An open-source system for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications across clusters of hosts.

M

  • Microservices: An architectural style that structures an application as a collection of small, independent services modeled around a business domain.

O

  • Orchestration: The automated configuration, coordination, and management of computer systems and software, particularly in cloud and container environments.

S

  • SDK (Software Development Kit): A collection of software development tools in one installable package, including libraries, documentation, and code samples.
  • Serverless Computing: A cloud computing execution model where the provider runs the server and dynamically manages the allocation of machine resources.

Malgukke Insight: The Containerization Shift

In modern HPC and AI software stacks, we have moved beyond bare-metal installations. **Apptainer (formerly Singularity)** and **Docker** have become the standard for ensuring that complex AI environments—with specific CUDA and library versions—remain reproducible across any cluster. Software is no longer just code; it is a portable, immutable environment.