Glossary
Common terms and acronyms used in My Dashboard documentation and codebase.
A
ADR (Architecture Decision Record) : A document that captures an important architectural decision made along with its context and consequences.
API (Application Programming Interface) : A set of rules and protocols for building and interacting with software applications.
API Key
: A secret token used to authenticate requests to the API. In this project, passed via the x-api-key header.
B
Brute Force Protection : Security mechanism that limits failed authentication attempts to prevent password/key guessing attacks.
C
CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment) : Automated processes for testing and deploying code changes.
CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) : A mechanism that allows restricted resources on a web page to be requested from another domain.
Cron Job : A scheduled task that runs automatically at specified intervals.
CSP (Content Security Policy) : A security standard to prevent cross-site scripting (XSS) and other code injection attacks.
Cypress : An end-to-end testing framework for web applications.
D
Docusaurus : A static site generator used for creating documentation websites.
E
E2E (End-to-End) Testing : Testing methodology that validates the entire application flow from start to finish.
Express.js : A minimal and flexible Node.js web application framework.
ESLint : A static code analysis tool for identifying problematic patterns in JavaScript/TypeScript code.
F
FCM (Firebase Cloud Messaging) : A cross-platform messaging solution for sending push notifications.
G
GitHub Actions : CI/CD platform integrated with GitHub for automating workflows.
H
Helmet.js : A collection of middleware functions that help secure Express apps by setting various HTTP headers.
HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security) : A web security policy mechanism that helps protect websites against protocol downgrade attacks.
Husky : A tool for managing Git hooks in Node.js projects.
I
ISO 8601
: International standard for date and time representation (e.g., 2024-01-20T12:00:00.000Z).
J
JIRA : A project management and issue tracking software by Atlassian.
JWT (JSON Web Token) : A compact, URL-safe means of representing claims to be transferred between two parties. Note: This project does NOT use JWT.
M
Material-UI (MUI) : A popular React UI framework that implements Google's Material Design.
Middleware : Software that acts as a bridge between an operating system or database and applications, especially on a network.
Migration : A script that modifies the database schema in a controlled, versioned manner.
Monorepo : A software development strategy where code for many projects is stored in the same repository. See Monorepo Structure for details on this project's workspace organization.
MySQL : An open-source relational database management system.
N
Node.js : A JavaScript runtime built on Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine.
O
OpenAPI : A specification for building APIs, formerly known as Swagger.
ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) : A programming technique for converting data between incompatible type systems. Note: This project uses raw SQL, not an ORM.
P
Playwright : A framework for end-to-end testing of web applications.
pnpm : A fast, disk space efficient package manager for Node.js.
Prettier : An opinionated code formatter that enforces a consistent style.
Pull Request (PR) : A method of submitting contributions to a project, where changes are reviewed before merging.
R
Railway : A deployment platform for hosting web applications and databases.
Rate Limiting : A technique to control the rate of requests sent or received by a network interface controller.
React : A JavaScript library for building user interfaces.
REST (Representational State Transfer) : An architectural style for designing networked applications using HTTP requests.
S
SDK (Software Development Kit) : A collection of software development tools and libraries for creating applications. In this project, the TypeScript SDK for API interaction.
SQL (Structured Query Language) : A domain-specific language used for managing data in relational databases.
T
TypeScript : A strongly typed programming language that builds on JavaScript.
V
Validation : The process of checking that data meets certain criteria before processing.
Vite : A modern frontend build tool that provides a faster development experience.
W
Workspace : In the context of pnpm, a package within a monorepo that can have its own dependencies and scripts.
Common Acronyms
| Acronym | Full Form |
|---|---|
| API | Application Programming Interface |
| CI/CD | Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment |
| CORS | Cross-Origin Resource Sharing |
| CSP | Content Security Policy |
| E2E | End-to-End |
| FCM | Firebase Cloud Messaging |
| HSTS | HTTP Strict Transport Security |
| JWT | JSON Web Token |
| MUI | Material-UI |
| ORM | Object-Relational Mapping |
| PR | Pull Request |
| REST | Representational State Transfer |
| SDK | Software Development Kit |
| SQL | Structured Query Language |
Project-Specific Terms
Application : A project or service being monitored by the dashboard. Each application can have multiple E2E test runs.
E2E Run Report : A summary of Cypress test execution results for all applications.
Manual Run : A manually triggered E2E test execution (as opposed to automated runs).
Project Summary : Aggregated test results for a specific application/project.
Test Result : The outcome of a single Cypress test execution.
Watching : A flag indicating whether an application is actively being monitored.
File Extensions
| Extension | Description |
|---|---|
.ts | TypeScript source file |
.tsx | TypeScript file with JSX (React components) |
.js | JavaScript source file |
.jsx | JavaScript file with JSX |
.json | JSON data file |
.yaml / .yml | YAML configuration file |
.md | Markdown documentation file |
.sql | SQL script file |
Environment Variables
Development Environment : Local development setup on a developer's machine.
Production Environment : Live environment where the application is deployed and used by end users.
Staging Environment : Pre-production environment for testing before deploying to production.
Environment Variable : A dynamic-named value that can affect the way running processes behave on a computer.
HTTP Methods
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
| GET | Retrieve data from the server |
| POST | Send data to create a new resource |
| PUT | Update an existing resource |
| PATCH | Partially update a resource |
| DELETE | Remove a resource |
HTTP Status Codes
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 200 | OK - Request successful |
| 201 | Created - Resource created successfully |
| 400 | Bad Request - Invalid request data |
| 401 | Unauthorized - Authentication required |
| 403 | Forbidden - Insufficient permissions |
| 404 | Not Found - Resource doesn't exist |
| 409 | Conflict - Resource already exists |
| 429 | Too Many Requests - Rate limit exceeded |
| 500 | Internal Server Error - Server error |
| 503 | Service Unavailable - External service error |
Database Terms
Connection Pool : A cache of database connections maintained so connections can be reused.
Index : A database structure that improves the speed of data retrieval operations.
Migration : A version-controlled change to the database schema.
Primary Key : A unique identifier for a database record.
Foreign Key : A field that links to the primary key of another table.
Query : A request for data or information from a database.
Transaction : A sequence of database operations that are treated as a single unit of work.
Git Terms
Branch : An independent line of development in Git.
Commit : A snapshot of changes in the repository.
Conventional Commits : A specification for adding human and machine-readable meaning to commit messages.
Merge : Combining changes from different branches.
Pull Request : A request to merge changes from one branch into another.
Rebase : Reapplying commits on top of another base commit.
Testing Terms
Unit Test : Testing individual components or functions in isolation.
Integration Test : Testing how different parts of the system work together.
E2E Test : Testing the complete application flow from user perspective.
Test Coverage : The percentage of code that is executed during testing.
Mock : A simulated object that mimics the behavior of real objects in controlled ways.
Need more definitions? Feel free to contribute to this glossary by submitting a pull request!