IT Glossary
Key Terms To Know In The IT Industry
HCI (Human-Computer Interaction)
The study of how people interact with computers and to design technologies that let humans interact with computers in novel ways.
You will find this term commonly used in General IT, User Experience
HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface)
A proprietary audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant source device.
You will find this term commonly used in Hardware, Multimedia
Header
In networking, a unit of information that precedes a data object. In programming, it often refers to a section of source code file that declares the interfaces to other files or objects.
You will find this term commonly used in Networking, Programming
Header Compression
A technique used in data transmission to reduce the size of the packet headers in order to improve efficiency over networks with limited bandwidth.
You will find this term commonly used in Networking
Header File
In programming, a file containing C declarations and macro definitions to be shared between several source files.
You will find this term commonly used in Programming
Header Injection
A form of web security vulnerability in which an attacker can supply input that manipulates the headers sent in HTTP requests or responses.
You will find this term commonly used in Web Development, Security
Header Injection Attack
A type of attack in which malicious users can inject arbitrary HTTP headers into a server's response, leading to potential security vulnerabilities such as web cache poisoning or cross-site scripting (XSS).
You will find this term commonly used in Security, Web Development
Header Manipulation
In networking and web development, the practice of altering headers in data packets or HTTP requests to achieve a specific goal, such as bypassing security measures or manipulating the behavior of a system.
You will find this term commonly used in Security, Web Development
Header Tag
In HTML, a tag used to define headings in a document, ranging from H1 (most important) to H6 (least important).
You will find this term commonly used in Web Development
Header Tag Optimization
The practice of optimizing the HTML header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) on a webpage for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes.
You will find this term commonly used in Web Development, SEO
Headerless Packet
Refers to data packets sent over a network without standard protocol headers, which might be used in specific contexts to reduce overhead or for custom protocol implementations.
You will find this term commonly used in Networking
Headless Browser
A web browser without a graphical user interface, used for automated testing and web scraping.
You will find this term commonly used in Web Development, Testing
Headless CMS
A content management system that provides backend management capabilities but does not dictate the frontend presentation layer, allowing developers to use any technology stack for the frontend.
You will find this term commonly used in Web Development, Content Management
Headless Technology
Software architecture or devices that operate without a graphical user interface, allowing control and management via command-line interfaces or network connections.
You will find this term commonly used in Software Development, Web Development
Heap
A type of data structure that is often used to implement priority queues, consisting of a complete binary tree that satisfies the heap property.
You will find this term commonly used in Data Structures, Programming
Heap Corruption
A type of vulnerability that occurs when a program incorrectly manages memory allocations and deallocations, potentially leading to code execution attacks.
You will find this term commonly used in Security, Software Development
Heap Memory
An area of dynamically allocated memory that a program manages directly via calls to functions (or methods) provided by its memory manager.
You will find this term commonly used in Programming
Heap Overflow
A type of buffer overflow that occurs in the heap data area. It can be exploited in various ways, such as executing arbitrary code or causing a program crash.
You will find this term commonly used in Security, Software Development
Heartbeat
A periodic signal generated by hardware or software to indicate normal operation or to synchronize other parts of a system.
You will find this term commonly used in Networking, Systems Design
Heat Sink
A passive heat exchanger that transfers the heat generated by an electronic or a mechanical device to a fluid medium, often air or a liquid coolant, where it is dissipated away from the device.
You will find this term commonly used in Hardware, Computing
Help Desk Technician
Provides technical support and troubleshooting services to end-users facing issues with hardware or software.
You will find this term commonly used in IT Support, Customer Service
Heterogeneous Computing
A type of computing environment that uses processors or cores of different types, combining the capabilities of various hardware components to improve performance or efficiency.
You will find this term commonly used in Computing, Hardware
Heuristic
In computing, a technique designed for solving a problem more quickly when classic methods are too slow, or for finding an approximate solution when classic methods fail to find any exact solution.
You will find this term commonly used in Algorithms, AI
Heuristic Analysis
A method of detecting viruses by examining code for suspicious properties rather than relying on a virus signature database.
You will find this term commonly used in Security, Antivirus
Heuristic Evaluation
A method used in user interface design to evaluate a user interface's usability. It involves reviewers examining the interface and judging its compliance with recognized usability principles.
You will find this term commonly used in UX/UI Design, General IT
Hex Editor
A software application that allows for manipulation of the fundamental binary data that constitutes a computer file.
You will find this term commonly used in Software Development
Hexadecimal
A base-16 number system that is used extensively in computing. It uses sixteen distinct symbols, 0–9 to represent values zero to nine, and A–F to represent values ten to fifteen.
You will find this term commonly used in Programming
Hibernate
A power-saving state designed primarily for laptops. While in hibernate mode, the current state of the system is saved to the hard disk, allowing the system to be completely powered off.
You will find this term commonly used in Operating Systems
Hibernate Query Language (HQL)
An object-oriented query language, similar to SQL, but instead of operating on tables and columns, HQL works with persistent objects and their properties.
You will find this term commonly used in Databases, Programming
HIDS (Host-based Intrusion Detection System)
A system that monitors important operating system files and detects when an intruder tampers with them.
You will find this term commonly used in Security, Cybersecurity
Hierarchical Database
A database model that organizes data in a tree-like structure, where each record has a single parent or root.
You will find this term commonly used in Databases
Hierarchical Network Design
A structured approach to network design that divides the network into discrete layers, each with specific functions and roles, to simplify management, improve scalability, and enhance performance.
You will find this term commonly used in Networking
Hierarchical Query
A type of database query that is designed to work with data stored in a hierarchical relationship, such as parent-child relationships in a tree structure.
You will find this term commonly used in Databases
Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM)
An automated data storage system that moves data between high-cost and low-cost storage media depending on the data's demand and usage.
You will find this term commonly used in Data Storage
Hierarchy of Needs in UX
A theory in user experience design that prioritizes user needs in layers, from the most basic functions to the highest user expectations.
You will find this term commonly used in User Experience, Design
Hierarchy Visualization
A method or tool used to visually represent the structure of data or systems in a hierarchical format, often through tree diagrams or similar graphical representations.
You will find this term commonly used in Data Analysis, UX/UI Design
High Availability
Refers to systems that are durable and likely to operate continuously without failure for a long time. The term is typically used in the context of computers and networks.
You will find this term commonly used in Networking, Systems Design
High Availability Cluster
A group of computers that work together to ensure that services remain available even if one or more of the computers fail.
You will find this term commonly used in Networking, Systems Design
High Dynamic Range (HDR)
A technology used in imaging and photography to reproduce a greater range of luminosity than what is possible with standard digital imaging or photographic techniques.
You will find this term commonly used in Multimedia, Photography
High Dynamic Range Imaging (HDRI)
A technique used in imaging and photography to reproduce a greater range of luminosity than what is possible with standard digital imaging techniques.
You will find this term commonly used in Multimedia, Design
High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC)
Also known as H.265, a video compression standard designed to substantially improve coding efficiency compared to its predecessor (H.264), enabling higher quality video streaming over the same bandwidth.
You will find this term commonly used in Multimedia, Broadcasting
High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP)
A form of digital copy protection developed to prevent copying of digital audio and video content as it travels across connections.
You will find this term commonly used in Multimedia, Security
High-Definition (HD)
A term used to describe video of higher resolution than standard definition, often with a resolution of 1280x720 pixels or higher.
You will find this term commonly used in Multimedia
High-Level API
An application programming interface that abstracts the complexity of a system into a simpler interface, making it easier for developers to program applications.
You will find this term commonly used in Programming, Software Development
High-Level Assembly (HLA)
An assembly language that includes some high-level language features, designed to ease the development of assembly language applications.
You will find this term commonly used in Programming
High-Level Language
A programming language that abstracts the details of the computer hardware, allowing them to be more readable and closer to human language.
You will find this term commonly used in Programming
High-Level Programming Language
A programming language with strong abstraction from the details of the computer. It allows programmers to write programs that are more readable and easier to debug.
You will find this term commonly used in Programming
High-Level Shader Language (HLSL)
A proprietary shading language developed by Microsoft for use with the DirectX API. It's used for writing shaders that determine the final look of 3D scenes by controlling the graphics pipeline.
You will find this term commonly used in Game Development, Graphics
High-Level Synthesis (HLS)
The process of converting high-level programming languages (like C, C++) into hardware description languages, which are used to create digital circuits.
You will find this term commonly used in Hardware, Programming
High-Order Bit
The bit in a binary number that represents the greatest order of magnitude. In an 8-bit byte, this would be the leftmost bit.
You will find this term commonly used in Computing
Career Path?
Information Security Analyst Career Path
$51.60
Network Administrator Career Path
$51.60
Leadership Mastery: The Executive Information Security Manager
$51.60
Kubernetes Certification: The Ultimate Certification and Career Advancement Series
$51.60
ICD 9, ICD 10, ICD 11 : Medical Coding Specialist Career Path
$39.00
Web Designer Career Path
$51.60
Comprehensive IT User Support Specialist Training: Accelerate Your Career
$51.60 – $169.00
Certified Ethical Hacker Career Path
$51.60
Network Security Analyst Career Path
$51.60
AZ-104 Learning Path : Become an Azure Administrator
$51.60 – $169.00
Entry Level Information Security Specialist Career Path
$51.60
AWS Cloud Practitioner Career Path
$51.60
