Tech glossary A–Z
Jargon, decoded. Short definitions first, the full explanation one click away.
Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources, an HL7 standard for exchanging healthcare data between systems using modern web APIs. HealthTech
A switch in software that turns a feature on or off for some or all users without deploying new code. Cloud & DevOps
An instant payment service run by the US Federal Reserve that lets banks and credit unions send and receive payments in seconds, around the clock. FinTech
A machine learning approach where models are trained across many devices or servers without moving the raw data to a central location. Artificial Intelligence
Giving a language model a handful of worked examples inside the prompt so it can follow the same pattern for a new input. Artificial Intelligence
Technology that transmits data as pulses of light through thin strands of glass or plastic, enabling very high-speed communication. Hardware & Industry 4.0
A practice that brings engineering, finance, and business teams together to manage cloud spending and get the most value from it. Cloud & DevOps
Financial technology: software and services that improve or automate financial services such as payments, lending, and investing. FinTech
Further training a pre-trained AI model on a smaller, specific dataset so it performs better on a particular task or style. Artificial Intelligence
A security system that monitors network traffic and allows or blocks it based on a set of rules. Cybersecurity
Low-level software stored on a hardware device that controls how the device starts up and operates. Hardware & Industry 4.0
Information a business collects directly from its own customers and audience, such as purchases, sign-ups, and website activity. Data & Analytics
A large AI model trained on broad data that can be adapted to many tasks, such as writing, coding, or image analysis. Artificial Intelligence
A reusable foundation of code, tools, and conventions that developers build applications on top of. Software Development
The part of an application that users see and interact with directly, such as web pages and app screens. Software Development
A developer who works on both the frontend and backend of an application, from user interfaces to servers and databases. Tech Careers
A feature that lets a language model request a specific software function, with structured inputs, so an application can take an action or fetch data. Artificial Intelligence