The Ultimate CS & IT Keyword Dictionary
Master 50 advanced Computer Science & Information Technology terms across AI, Systems Architecture, Cybersecurity, and Software Design (Terms 101–150)
101. Dependency Injection
Software ArchitectureDefinition: A design pattern where an object receives its dependent objects from an external source rather than instantiating them internally, enabling loose coupling and easier testing.
102. Transformer Model
AI & MLDefinition: A deep learning architecture that relies on self-attention mechanisms to weigh the significance of different words in a sequence simultaneously, foundational to modern Large Language Models (LLMs).
103. BGP (Border Gateway Protocol)
NetworkingDefinition: The routing protocol that manages how packets are passed across the global internet by exchanging routing information between distinct Autonomous Systems (AS).
104. Zero-Day Exploit
CybersecurityDefinition: A cyberattack targeting a software vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor, leaving 0 days to issue a security patch before exploitation.
105. SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data)
SystemsDefinition: A parallel computing execution model where a single CPU or GPU instruction performs the exact same operational task across multiple data points simultaneously.
106. Trie (Prefix Tree)
AlgorithmsDefinition: A tree-like data structure used to store associative keys (typically strings) where nodes share common prefixes, enabling fast search lookups.
107. Idempotency
Software ArchitectureDefinition: A property of an operation where executing it multiple times consecutively produces the exact same outcome as executing it once.
108. Vector Embedding
AI & MLDefinition: Numerical representation of real-world data objects (text, images, audio) converted into high-dimensional space vectors where distance captures semantic meaning.
109. Edge Computing
Cloud & DevOpsDefinition: A distributed IT architecture where computation and data processing occur near the physical location of the user or device rather than in centralized data centers.
110. PKI (Public Key Infrastructure)
CybersecurityDefinition: A framework of roles, policies, hardware, and digital certificates required to manage public-key encryption and verify online identity integrity.
111. DMA (Direct Memory Access)
SystemsDefinition: A hardware feature allowing hardware subsystems (graphics cards, network cards) to access system RAM independently of the central processing unit.
112. Dynamic Programming
AlgorithmsDefinition: An algorithmic optimization technique that breaks a complex problem down into simpler overlapping subproblems, storing results (memoization) to avoid redundant computation.
113. Singleton Pattern
Software ArchitectureDefinition: A software creational design pattern that restricts the instantiation of a class to one single instance across the entire application runtime.
114. NAT (Network Address Translation)
NetworkingDefinition: A network method that maps multiple local private IP addresses to a single public IP address before forwarding traffic to the internet.
115. Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
Cloud & DevOpsDefinition: Managing and provisioning IT infrastructure (servers, networks, databases) using machine-readable definition files rather than manual configuration.
116. Model Quantization
AI & MLDefinition: The technique of converting deep learning neural network weights from high-precision floating numbers (e.g., FP32) to lower-bit representations (e.g., INT8) to reduce model size.
117. Cryptographic Salt
CybersecurityDefinition: Random data added to a plaintext password before hashing to ensure identical passwords generate unique hashes, defending against Rainbow Table attacks.
118. Instruction Pipeline
SystemsDefinition: A CPU architecture technique that breaks instruction execution into multiple sequential stages (Fetch, Decode, Execute) to process instructions in parallel.
119. Depth-First Search (DFS)
AlgorithmsDefinition: A graph traversal algorithm that explores as far as possible along each branch before backtracking using a Stack memory structure.
120. Coupling and Cohesion
Software ArchitectureDefinition: Coupling measures interdependency between modules, while Cohesion measures focus within a single module. Ideal design aims for Low Coupling, High Cohesion.
121. Latency vs Throughput
NetworkingDefinition: Latency is the time delay for a data packet to travel from sender to receiver; Throughput is the volume of data transmitted over a network per unit of time.
122. Service Mesh
Cloud & DevOpsDefinition: A dedicated infrastructure layer handling service-to-service communication, load balancing, security, and telemetry across microservice applications.
123. Fine-Tuning (PEFT / LoRA)
AI & MLDefinition: The process of training a pre-trained machine learning model on a specific niche dataset to adapt its general knowledge for specialized tasks.
124. Steganography
CybersecurityDefinition: The practice of concealing secret data, messages, or files inside a non-secret host medium (like an image or audio file) to hide transmission entirely.
125. Interrupt Handler (ISR)
SystemsDefinition: A hardware or software callback routine executed by the OS when a high-priority hardware event interrupts the CPU execution sequence.
126. Breadth-First Search (BFS)
AlgorithmsDefinition: A graph traversal method that explores all immediate neighboring nodes at the present depth level before moving deeper using a Queue structure.
127. Factory Design Pattern
Software ArchitectureDefinition: A creational design pattern providing an interface for creating objects in a superclass while letting subclasses alter the type of objects created.
128. Mesh Topology
NetworkingDefinition: A network architecture where devices (nodes) are redundantly interconnected directly, allowing data to reroute dynamically if a node fails.
129. Kubernetes Pod
Cloud & DevOpsDefinition: The smallest deployable computing unit in Kubernetes, wrapping one or more Linux containers sharing storage, networking, and execution specs.
130. Generative Adversarial Network (GAN)
AI & MLDefinition: An AI setup where two neural networks (a Generator and a Discriminator) contest with each other in a game to produce realistic synthetic data.
131. Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
CybersecurityDefinition: A security vulnerability enabling attackers to inject malicious client-side JavaScript into trusted websites viewed by other users.