Web-Related Terms Beginning with S
Scheme (URL)​
A scheme indicates the protocol (set of rules) browsers must use to access a website's resources. Some popular schemes are HTTP, HTTPS, Mailto, and FTP.
Scope​
Scope refers to the area where an item (such as a function or variable) is visible and accessible to other code.
Scope Chain​
A scope chain refers to the unique spaces that exist from the scope where a variable got called to the global scope.
Scrolling Element​
A scrolling element is an element with a non-visible overflow value. In other words, an element has a scrolling mechanism if its overflow property is auto, hidden, overlay, or scroll.
search() in JavaScript​
search() searches its calling string for the first occurrence of the method's regular expression argument.
Search Engine​
A search engine is a software program you can use to search for resources on the internet.
In other words, a search engine is like a marketplace where you search for products.
A woman searches for vegetables at a marketplace – Image by Milada Vigerova
Popular search engines are Google, Bing, Yahoo, Yandex, CC Search, and DuckDuckGo.
Self-Executing Anonymous Function Expression​
An self-executing anonymous function expression is a function expression that invokes itself automatically.
Self-Invoking Function Expression​
An self-invoking function expression is a function expression that invokes itself automatically.
Serialization​
Serialization converts a native object to a format that clients and servers can interchange.
Server (Computing)​
A server is a computer where documents are stored until other computers request them over the internet (or local network).
setState() in React​
setState() is the method used to update a class component's state.
SHA-1 Checksum (Git)​
A SHA-1 checksum 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 z8d2f115010634ea4ae0a2670p7aec61b394c306
Author: Oluwatobi Sofela <contact@codesweetly.com>
Date: Tue Dec 21 12:51:07 2023 +0100
Initialize project
The long string that follows the word "commit" in the snippet above is the SHA-1 checksum.
The SHA-1 checksum is a 40-character string which we sometimes call "commit hash" or "Git commit reference."
Add an --abbrev-commit flag to the git log command to display an abbreviated version of the SHA-1 checksum.
Here's an example:
$ git log --abbrev-commit
commit z8d2f11
Author: Oluwatobi Sofela <contact@codesweetly.com>
Date: Tue Dec 21 12:51:07 2023 +0100
Initialize project
Shallow Copy (JS)​
You do shallow copy when you create references while cloning one object into another.
Shallow Object (JS)​
A shallow object is one that contains only primitive items.
shift() in JavaScript​
shift() removes its calling array's first item.
Side Effect​
Side effect occurs in a program whenever you use an external code in your function—which, as a result, impacts the function's ability to perform its task.
Single-Page Application​
A single-page application (SPA) is a web app in which each of its unique URL file paths refers to a single HTML page that gets loaded only once from the server.
slice() JavaScript Array Method​
slice() extracts a specified part of its calling array into a new array—without altering the original array.
slice() JavaScript String Method​
slice() extracts a specified part of its calling string into a new string—without altering the original string.
Software​
Software is a collection of programs used to instruct the computer on what to do.
Source Code​
A source code is your original file containing the code you wrote and edited. It is the source code that bundlers compile into a distribution code.
splice() in JavaScript​
splice() alters its calling array by adding or removing a specific number of items to/from it.
split() in JavaScript​
split() returns an array containing the result of splitting a string into substrings.
Spread Operator​
A spread operator (...) expands iterables into individual elements.
Staging Area (Git)​
The staging area is a file Git uses to store details about files it is about to commit into the .git directory.
Start Of (RegExp)​
Regular expression's start of operator (^) asserts that you wish to find the RegExp pattern at the start of a string.
State​
State is the data a stateful program is managing.
State Hook (ReactJS)​
The state hook (useState) allows a function component hook into React's state object.
Stateful Program​
A stateful program is a program whose output depends on external states (events).
Stateless Program​
A stateless program is one whose output does not depend on any external event.
Statement (JS)​
A JavaScript statement is a piece of code used to instruct the computer on an action to execute.
Sticky (RegExp)​
Regular expression's sticky flag (y) tells the computer to find a RegExp pattern at exactly the lastIndex position—not starting from the lastIndex position.
Strict Equality Operator (JS)​
The strict equality operator (===) checks if its two operands are strictly of equal type and value.
Strict Mode (JS)​
JavaScript's strict mode is a way of ensuring the code in a script (or function) are strictly JavaScript code—not generic code nor mistyped JavaScript code.
You can invoke the strict mode by including the literal string "use strict"; as the first statement of your script file (or function statement).
String (JS)​
AÂ string is a quoted series of characters representing textual data.
String Expression (JS)​
A string expression is a piece of code that expresses a string value.
Stub (TDD)​
A stub is a test double used to mimic an external dependency while also returning hand-coded values that you can use to assess your program's behavior with various test case responses from the dependency.
Styling Language​
A stylist helps to apply styles to an annotated document. So, for instance, CSS helps add artistic touches to the elements of an HTML document.
Subdomain​
A subdomain (third-level domain) is a subset of a specific website. It allows you to categorize your website into one or more sections.
Submodule (JavaScript)​
A submodule is a script used inside another module.
Substitutions (Webpack)​
Substitutions—in webpack—refers to the use of bracketed strings to create templates for filenames.
Substring​
Substring means part of a string. For instance, "Cat" is a substring of "Caterpillar" because "Cat" is part of the "Caterpillar" string.
switch Conditional Statement (JS)​
The switch conditional statement instructs the computer to execute a code block if the block's case value matches the given expression.
Symbol (JS)​
Symbol is a unique, anonymous value that you can create by invoking the Symbol() function in a JavaScript runtime environment.
Synchronous Callback​
A synchronous callback is a callback whose execution happens immediately.
Synchronous Event​
A synchronous event is an activity that must occur at a specific point in time.
System Software​
System software is the computer programs computers use to accomplish specific tasks.