Simplified JavaScript Jargon

Simplified JavaScript Jargon (short SJSJ) is a community-driven attempt at explaining the loads of buzzwords making the current JavaScript ecosystem in a few simple words. The idea is not to replace individual documentations, but to act as some kind of glossary that can be easily referrenced.

If you are willing to contribute, open a pull request to complete, update or fill in a section. Thank you for doing so!

Glossary

A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · J · K · L · M · N · O · P · Q · R · S · T · U · V · W · X · Y · Z

A

• AJAX: a technology for asynchronous HTTP requests.
• AMD: a standard defining how to load JavaScript libraries or modules asynchronously.
• AngularJS: a structural framework for dynamic web apps.

B

• Babel: a JavaScript transformation toolkit which started as an ECMAScript 2015 / ES6 code translator (transpiler).
• Backbone: a structural framework for dynamic web apps.
• Bluebird: a fully featured Promise library with focus on innovative features and performance.
• Bower: a package manager for front-end dependencies.
• Broccoli: a fast and reliable asset pipeline.
• Browserify: a tool making possible to use the require function from Node.js within the browser.
• Brunch: a tool focusing on the production of deployment-ready files from development files.

C

• Canvas: an HTML element for graphic applications in 2D or 3D.
• Chai: an assertion library used with a JavaScript testing framework.
• Closure: to be completed.
• CoffeeScript: a language that compiles into JavaScript.
• CORS: A way for a server to make things accessible to pages hosted on other domains.
• Currying: to be completed.

D

• D3.js: a library for manipulating documents based on data.
• DOM: a platform- and language-neutral interface that allow programs and scripts to dynamically access and update the content, structure and style of documents.

E

• ECMAScript: the standardized specification of the scripting language used by JavaScript.
• Ember: an application framework based on the model-view-controller pattern.
• ESLint: a JavaScript code linter.
• Express: a fast, unopinionated, minimalist web framework for Node.js.

F

• Falcor: to be completed.
• Flux: an application structure focusing on improved data flow.

G

• Grunt: a task runner aiming at automating tedious and possibly complex tasks.
• Gulp: a task runner aiming at automating tedious and possibly complex tasks.

H

• Hapi: a Node JS framework for writing services and more.
• Hoisting: an action performed by the JavaScript interpreter that moves function and variable declarations to the top of their containing scope.

I

• IIFE: an Immediately Invoked Function Expression is a function that gets called immediately after declaration.
• Isomorphic: an application is said to be isomorphic (universal) when its code can run both in the client and the server.

J

• Jasmine: A testing framework for BDD.
• jQuery: a fast, small, and feature-rich client-side library.
• JSCS: a JavaScript code linter.
• JSHint: a JavaScript code linter.
• JSLint: a JavaScript code linter.
• JSON: acronym for JavaScript Object Notation.
• JSON-LD: JSON for Linked Data.
• JSX: an XML-like syntax extension to JavaScript.

K

• Knockout: a library that helps developers creating user interfaces with a clean underlying data model.

L

• LocalForage: to be completed.
• Lodash: to be completed.

M

• Meteor: to be completed.
• Mocha: to be completed.
• Moment.js: a library to parse, validate, manipulate and display dates.
• Mootools: to be completed.
• Metalsmith: a simple, pluggable static site generator.
• MEAN: the acronym MEAN refers to the technology stack MongoDB, ExpressJS, AngularJS, and Node.js.

N

• Nightmare: a high-level browser automation library.
• Node.js: a cross-platform runtime environment for developing server-side applications built on V8 engine.
• npm: a utility to help publishing packages to, and installing from, an npm repository.
• nvm: a utility to help run multiple versions of Node.js on the same machine.

O

P

• PhantomJS: to be completed.
• PhoneGap: to be completed.
• Polymer: to be completed.
• Promise: a proxy for a value not necessarily known immediatly but that will eventually be resolved.
• Prototype: to be completed.

Q

R

• React: a library developed and used at Facebook for building user interfaces.
• Redux: a predictable state container for apps.
• RxJS: a library for asynchronous programming using observable streams.
• Require.js: to be completed.

S

• Sails: realtime MVC Framework for Node.js.

T

• Three.js: a lightweight 3D library to create and display animated 3D computer graphics on a Web browser.
• TypeScript: a super-set of the JavaScript language that introduces types.

U

• Underscore: a swiss army knife, focusing on helper methods for most built-in objects.
• Universal: an application is said to be universal (isomorphic) when its code can run both in the client and the server.

V

• V8: Google’s open source javaScript engine. It’s what Chrome is running, but it’s also used for other projects like Node.js and MongoDB.
• Vanilla: to be completed.
• Virtual DOM: to be completed.

W

• WebGL (Web Graphics Library): a JavaScript API for rendering interactive 3D and 2D graphics within any compatible web browser without the use of plug-ins.
• webpack: a dependency manager with a friendly and fast development environment, simplifying a lot of common tasks.

X

• XHR: to be completed.

Y

• Yeoman: a generator builder to speed up the setup and installation process of a project or part of a project.

Z