Software Development Terms Beginning with C
call()
Section titled “call()”call() is one of JavaScript’s built-in methods that you can use to reassign a specific method from one object to a different one.
Call-After (JavaScript)
Section titled “Call-After (JavaScript)”A call-after is a function A passed as an argument into a function B and invoked inside function B.
Callback (JavaScript)
Section titled “Callback (JavaScript)”A callback is a function A passed as an argument into a function B and invoked inside function B.
Calling Array in JavaScript
Section titled “Calling Array in JavaScript”A calling array is an array on which you used methods like map(), filter(), or slice().
Calling String in JavaScript
Section titled “Calling String in JavaScript”A calling string is a string on which you used methods like replace() or matchAll().
Capturing Group (RegExp)
Section titled “Capturing Group (RegExp)”A regular expression’s capturing group operator ((...)) groups zero or more patterns.
Caret (RegExp)
Section titled “Caret (RegExp)”A regular expression’s caret operator ([^abc]) defines the set of characters you do not wish to find in a single character’s position.
Chained Conditional Operator in JavaScript
Section titled “Chained Conditional Operator in JavaScript”A chained conditional operator is an alternate (shortcut) way of writing an if...else if...else statement.
Chained Question Mark Operator in JavaScript
Section titled “Chained Question Mark Operator in JavaScript”A chained question mark operator is an alternate (shortcut) way of writing an if...else if...else statement.
Chained Ternary Operator in JavaScript
Section titled “Chained Ternary Operator in JavaScript”A chained ternary operator is an alternate (shortcut) way of writing an if...else if...else statement.
Character
Section titled “Character”A character is a writable (or printable) mark.
Character Classes (RegExp)
Section titled “Character Classes (RegExp)”Regular expression’s character classes are operators used to specify the precise type of characters you wish to find in a specific string.
Character Encoding
Section titled “Character Encoding”Character encoding is the method used to encode a character from its standard form into code.
Character Set
Section titled “Character Set”A character set (also called repertoire) is a group of characters collated for a specific purpose.
The purpose for collating characters could be computer related, like coding, or non-computer related, like music.
Here are some examples:
♠ ♤ ♥ ♡ ♣ ♧ ♦ ◊is the symbols character set of a playing card suit. It consists of eight individual characters.9817is the repertoire of a numeral value. It consists of four unique characters.
Character Set (RegExp)
Section titled “Character Set (RegExp)”A regular expression’s character set ([abc]) defines the set of characters you wish to find in a single character’s position.
A chunk refers to the modified section of a file.
A chunk consists of the modified line and its context, where context means some unaltered lines before and after the modified line.
Class Body
Section titled “Class Body”A class’s body is where you place a sequence of statements.
Here’s the syntax:
class NameOfClass { // class' body}Class Component
Section titled “Class Component”A class component is a plain JavaScript Class that extends a user-defined class to the built-in React.Component class located inside the React library.
Class Field
Section titled “Class Field”A class field is a property defined directly in a class’s body—not inside any of the class’s methods.
class Keyword in JavaScript
Section titled “class Keyword in JavaScript”A class keyword declares to browsers that a specific piece of code is a JavaScript class—not a mathematical or other generic class.
Class Name
Section titled “Class Name”A class name allows you to create an identifier for your class, which you can use to reference it.
Client-Side Navigation
Section titled “Client-Side Navigation”Client-side navigation means JavaScript—not the browser—manages the navigation between an app’s pages. This is faster than the browser’s default navigation.
For instance, a Next.js app uses a Link component to navigate between pages rather than the browser’s default anchor (<a>) element. Therefore, transitioning between pages in Next.js does not cause a page to reload. Whereas using the browser’s <a> element causes a complete refresh.
Closures (JavaScript)
Section titled “Closures (JavaScript)”A closure is a function that retains access to its lexical scope’s features even after its execution closes.
Code (Computing)
Section titled “Code (Computing)”Code is any language that computers can understand and process.
Code (Number system)
Section titled “Code (Number system)”Code is the character or character set you create to disguise or represent another character.
Code Block
Section titled “Code Block”A block is a pair of braces ({...}) used to group multiple statements.
Code Point
Section titled “Code Point”A code point is the unique numerical value (code) assigned to a character for unambiguous referencing.
For instance, 0037 is the code point for character 7. And 2665 is the code point for the Black Heart Suit ♥.
Code Space
Section titled “Code Space”Code space is the space available for code points.
For instance, a 7-bit code unit has code space for 27 code points (128 unique numbers).
In other words, you can derive only 128 unique numbers from a 7-bit code unit.
Likewise, a 3-bit code unit can only produce 23 (eight) different combinations of 1s and 0s.
So, a 3-bit code unit has space for only eight code points.
Code Splitting
Section titled “Code Splitting”Code splitting reduces an app’s initial loading time by splitting its bundle into smaller files browsers can load on demand or in parallel. In other words, code splitting divides your bundle into smaller chunks and lazy-loads only the code the user requests.
Code Unit
Section titled “Code Unit”A code unit is the group of code accepted as the gauge for expressing a complete sequence of bits (binary digits).
For instance, the US-ASCII system accepts seven binary digits as the gauge for a single code unit. Meanwhile, eight binary digits make up one code unit in the EBCDIC system.
Coded Character
Section titled “Coded Character”A coded character is a character that has a unique identification number for use in a computer.
In other words, any character having a computing code is a coded character.
For instance, digit 7 is a “coded character” because it has a unique identification number of 0037.
Coded Character Set
Section titled “Coded Character Set”A coded character set is a collection of characters where each character has an assigned code.
For instance, the ♠ ♤ ♥ ♡ ♣ ♧ ♦ ◊ playing cards suit is a “coded character set” because each character has unique identification numerals of 2660, 2664, 2665, 2661, 2663, 2667, 2666, and 2662 respectively.
Command Line Interface (CLI)
Section titled “Command Line Interface (CLI)”A command line interface (CLI) is a computer’s text interface allowing you to type commands for the computer to run.
Commercial API
Section titled “Commercial API”Commercial APIs are public APIs available to the public on pay-as-you-go or subscription fee terms.
Commit Hash (Git)
Section titled “Commit Hash (Git)”A commit hash is a long string that follows the word “commit” in a git log command’s output.
In other words, whenever you run the git log command, you will get an output like so:
commit z8d2f115010634ea4ae0a2670p7aec61b394c306Author: Oluwatobi Sofela <[email protected]>Date: Tue Dec 21 12:51:07 2023 +0100
Initialize projectThe long string that follows the word “commit” in the snippet above is the commit hash.
The commit hash is a 40-character string which we sometimes call “SHA-1 checksum” or “Git commit reference.”
Compiling
Section titled “Compiling”Compiling (or compile) means collating code from one version to another.
Composite API Release Policy
Section titled “Composite API Release Policy”A composite API release policy allows publishing APIs to help unify multiple data or service APIs.
Computed Property Names
Section titled “Computed Property Names”Computed Property Names refer to the name of a property that the computer derived by computing (evaluating) a bracketed expression.
concat() JavaScript Array Method
Section titled “concat() JavaScript Array Method”concat() populates a new array with the concatenation of its calling array and its arguments.
concat() JavaScript String Method
Section titled “concat() JavaScript String Method”concat() creates a new string by concatenating its calling string and its arguments.
Concatenation
Section titled “Concatenation”Concatenation means to join two or more things together. For instance, string concatenation implies the joining together of two or more strings.
Conditional Operator in JavaScript
Section titled “Conditional Operator in JavaScript”A conditional operator is an alternate (shortcut) way of writing an if...else statement.
Conditional Statement in JavaScript
Section titled “Conditional Statement in JavaScript”A conditional statement is any code used to specify the prerequisites necessary for the computer to perform specific actions.
Configuration File (Webpack)
Section titled “Configuration File (Webpack)”Webpack’s configuration file is a JavaScript file that allows you to modify or extend webpack’s default settings.
Constructor Function
Section titled “Constructor Function”A constructor function is a function the new keyword uses to create a new object instance.
For instance, consider the snippet below:
function createBook() {}const book1 = new createBook();console.log(book1);The createBook() function is a constructor function because the new keyword used it to create the book1 object instance.
In other words, the new keyword constructed a new object instance from the createBook() constructor function. Therefore, book1 is an instance of createBook().
Content Management System
Section titled “Content Management System”A Content Management System (CMS) is an application people use to build and manage websites without writing code.
Control Flow
Section titled “Control Flow”Control flow means managing (controlling) the order (flow) in which the computer executes your program’s code.
Conditional logic and loops are the typical constructs developers use to control the flow of their program’s execution.
Controlled Component in React
Section titled “Controlled Component in React”A controlled component is a component whose local information (state) is props-driven—it is controlled externally.
Costly Operation (Computing)
Section titled “Costly Operation (Computing)”A costly (or expensive) operation is a resource-intensive task. It is an operation that uses a lot of resources, such as CPU, memory, or disk drive.
CPU Intensive
Section titled “CPU Intensive”CPU intensive means high usage of a computer’s CPU resources.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a styling language that styles elements of an HTML document.
CSS Attribute Selector
Section titled “CSS Attribute Selector”A CSS attribute selector selects an HTML element based on the element’s attribute name or value.
CSS Basic Selector
Section titled “CSS Basic Selector”A CSS basic selector selects an HTML element based on the element’s name, id, or class.
CSS Combinator Selector
Section titled “CSS Combinator Selector”A CSS combinator selector selects one or more HTML elements based on their relationship with some specified HTML nodes.
CSS Layout
Section titled “CSS Layout”CSS layout refers to the arrangement of box models in relation to one another and the browser’s viewport.
The eight (8) widely used page layout techniques for arranging CSS boxes on a webpage are:
- Normal flow
- Display property
- Flexbox
- Grid
- Float property
- Position property
- Table layout
- Multi-column layout
CSS Pseudo-Selector
Section titled “CSS Pseudo-Selector”A CSS pseudo-selector selects a specific part of an HTML element or selects an HTML element only when it is in a particular state.
CSS Ruleset
Section titled “CSS Ruleset”A CSS ruleset consists of an element selector and a properties declaration block.
CSS Selector
Section titled “CSS Selector”A CSS selector selects HTML elements. In other words, developers use CSS selectors in a stylesheet to select the HTML elements they which to style.
The four (4) types of CSS selectors are:
CSS Transform Functions
Section titled “CSS Transform Functions”The CSS transform functions are the functions we use to translate, rotate, skew, scale, or add perspective effects to an HTML element.
CSS Unit
Section titled “CSS Unit”A CSS Unit is the standard of measurement used in CSS to express the size of a specific element’s property.
Currying
Section titled “Currying”Currying means converting a function with multiple arguments to a series of functions with only one argument each.