Software jargon, explained simply.

An MVP, or minimum viable product, is the smallest version of a product that solves a real problem for real users. The goal isn’t to build everything at once, but to ship fast to learn and iterate.

A PWA (Progressive Web App) is a website that behaves like an app: it installs on the home screen, works offline and sends notifications, without going through the app stores.

An API (application programming interface) is a bridge that lets two pieces of software communicate and exchange data — for example, letting your site talk to your payment system or accounting.

SaaS (Software as a Service) is software accessed online by subscription, rather than installed on each computer. Updates, security and hosting are handled for you.

An ERP (enterprise resource planning) is a system that brings a company’s processes — inventory, production, finance, HR — into a single platform and a single database.

A CRM (customer relationship management) is a system that centralizes your clients, leads and interactions in one place, so nothing slips and you sell better.

UX (user experience) is how a person experiences using a product: is it clear, easy, pleasant? It covers flows, structure and feel, beyond looks.

UI (user interface) is the visible part of a product: buttons, colours, typography, layout — everything a user interacts with on screen.

DevOps is a set of practices that connect software development and operations to ship faster and more safely — automating testing, deployment and monitoring.

CI/CD (continuous integration and deployment) automates checking and shipping code: every change is tested automatically, then deployed without manual work.

Cross-platform development means building an app for iOS and Android from a single codebase, rather than developing two separate ones.

A native app is built specifically for one platform — Swift for iOS, Kotlin for Android — to make the most of the device’s hardware and performance.

A headless CMS is a content management system that separates content management from display: you manage text and images in one place, and they appear on any site or app via an API.

RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) is an AI technique that connects a language model to your own data: it retrieves relevant information from your documents, then generates an answer grounded in it.

An LLM (Large Language Model) is an AI model trained on massive amounts of text, able to understand and generate natural language — the technology behind assistants like ChatGPT.

No-code refers to tools that let you create apps or sites without writing code, using visual interfaces.

Agile is a development approach that delivers a product in small successive steps, with frequent feedback, rather than in one big block at the end.

Scrum is an agile framework that organizes work into short cycles called sprints, with roles, rituals and regular demos to keep the team aligned.

The back-end is the invisible part of an application: the servers, databases and logic that make what the user sees on screen actually work.

The front-end is the visible part of an application: everything the user sees and interacts with in their browser or phone.

Responsive design is a site or app that automatically adjusts to the screen size — phone, tablet or desktop — to stay readable and usable everywhere.

The cloud means hosting your applications and data on servers accessible over the internet, rather than on local machines — with power and reliability managed for you.

Web3 is a new generation of web applications built on blockchain, where transactions and logic are decentralized, transparent and intermediary-free.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the set of techniques that help a site appear higher in Google’s search results, naturally and sustainably.