Jakob’s Law : “Users spend most of their time on other sites. This means that users prefer your site to work the same way as all the other sites they already know.” ℹ︎ nngroup.com/articles/end-of-web-design
Jamstack/JAMstack : A solution stack based on JavaScript, APIs, and markup (“JAM”).
Jank : A sluggishness in a user interface, usually caused by executing long tasks on the main thread, blocking rendering, or expending too much processor power on background processes. ‡
JAR : → Java archive
Jasmine : A testing framework for JavaScript. Jasmine aims to run on any JavaScript-enabled platform, not to intrude on the application nor the IDE, and to have easy-to-read syntax. † ℹ︎ jasmine.github.io
Java : A general-purpose programming language that is class-based, object-oriented, and designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible. It is intended to let application developers “write once, run anywhere” (WORA), meaning that compiled Java code can run on all platforms that support Java without the need for recompilation. Java applications are typically compiled to bytecode that can run on any Java virtual machine (JVM) regardless of the underlying computer architecture. The syntax of Java is similar to C and C++, but it has fewer low-level facilities than either of them. Java was first released in 1995. † ℹ︎ java.com
Java applet : → Applet
Java archive : A package file format typically used to aggregate Java class files and associated metadata and resources (text, images, etc.) into one file for distribution. JAR files are archive files that include a Java-specific manifest file. They build on the ZIP format and typically have a .jar file extension. †
Java Database Connectivity : An API for the programming language Java, which defines how a client may access a database. JDBC is part of the Java Standard Edition platform from Oracle. It provides methods to query and update data in a database, and is oriented towards relational databases. JDBC was first released in 1997. † ℹ︎ is.gd/CWA3VV
Java Development Kit : An implementation of either of the Java Platform editions released by Oracle in the form of a binary product aimed at Java developers on Linux, macOS, or Windows. The JDK includes a private JVM and other resources to complete the development of a Java application. Since the introduction of the Java platform, it has been by far the most widely used Software Development Kit (SDK). † ℹ︎ is.gd/dZipm6
Java servlet : → Servlet
Java virtual machine : A virtual machine that enables a computer to run Java programs as well as programs written in other languages that are also compiled to Java bytecode. The JVM is detailed by a specification that formally describes what is required in a JVM implementation. Having a specification ensures interoperability of Java programs across different implementations so that program authors using the Java Development Kit (JDK) need not worry about idiosyncrasies of the underlying hardware platform. †
JavaFX : A software platform for creating and delivering desktop applications, as well as rich Internet applications (RIAs) that can run across a wide variety of devices. JavaFX is intended to replace Swing as the standard GUI library for Java SE, but both will be included for the foreseeable future. JavaFX has support for desktop computers and web browsers on Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux. JavaFX was first released in 2008. † ℹ︎ openjfx.io
JavaScript : → ECMAScript
JavaScript framework : An application framework written in JavaScript. A JavaScript framework differs from a JavaScript library in its control flow: A library offers functions to be called by its parent code, whereas a framework defines the entire application design. A developer does not call a framework; instead, the framework calls and uses the code in some particular way. Some JavaScript frameworks follow the model-view-controller paradigm designed to segregate a web application into orthogonal units to improve code quality and maintainability. Examples include AngularJS, Ember.js, Meteor.js, and Vue.js. †
JavaScript library : → Library
JavaScript Object Notation
: An open-standard file format or language-independent data interchange format that uses human-readable text to transmit data objects consisting of attribute-value pairs and array data types (or any other serializable value). JSON is a common data format, with a diverse range of applications, such as serving as replacement for XML in AJAX systems. The Internet media type for JSON is application/json. † ℹ︎ json.org
JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data : A method of encoding Linked Data using JSON. JSON-LD allows data to be serialized in a way that is similar to traditional JSON. It was initially developed by the JSON for Linking Data Community Group. † ℹ︎ json-ld.org
JavaScript Style Sheets : A style sheet language technology proposed in 1996 by Netscape to provide facilities for defining the presentation of web pages. JSSS was an alternative to the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) language that was never accepted as a formal standard and never gained acceptance in the web browser market. Only Netscape Communicator 4 implemented JSSS, and soon after Netscape Communicator’s release in 1997, Netscape stopped promoting JSSS, instead focusing on the rival CSS standard. †
JavaScript XML : An extension to the JavaScript language syntax. Similar in appearance to HTML, JSX provides a way to structure component rendering using syntax familiar to many developers. React components are typically written using JSX, although they do not have to be (components may also be written in pure JavaScript). †
JavaServer Pages : A collection of technologies that helps software developers create dynamically generated web pages based on HTML, XML, SOAP, and other document types. Released in 1999 by Sun Microsystems, JSP is similar to PHP and ASP, but uses the Java programming language. To deploy and run JavaServer Pages, a compatible web server with a servlet container, such as Apache Tomcat or Jetty, is required. †
JAWS : → Job Access With Speech
JDBC : → Java Database Connectivity
JDK : → Java Development Kit
Jekyll : A static site generator based on Ruby. Jekyll was first released in 2008. ℹ︎ jekyllrb.com
Jenkins : A continuous integration and delivery solution that helps to automate testing, building, and deploying software. Jenkins was released in 2011. † ℹ︎ jenkins.io
Jetty : A Java HTTP (Web) server and Java servlet container. While web servers are usually associated with serving documents to people, Jetty is often used for machine to machine communications, usually within larger software frameworks. Jetty was first released in 1995. † ℹ︎ eclipse.org/jetty
Jimdo : A website builder, e-commerce platform, and hosting solution, designed for users to create their own websites and stores without web design experience. Jimdo was founded in 2007. ℹ︎ jimdo.com
Jinja : A web template engine for the Python programming language. Jinja was created in 2008 by Armin Ronacher. It is similar to the Django template engine but provides Python-like expressions while ensuring that templates are evaluated in a sandbox. Jinja is a text-based template language and can therefore be used to generate any markup as well as source code. † ℹ︎ is.gd/waQ3Ew
Jinjava : A Java-based template engine based on the Django template syntax to render Jinja templates. Jinjava is used widely around the HubSpot marketing and sales software. ℹ︎ github.com/HubSpot/jinjava
Jira : A proprietary issue tracking product by Atlassian that allows bug tracking and agile project management. Jira was first released in 2002. † ℹ︎ atlassian.com/software/jira
JIT : → Just in Time
JIT compiler : → Just-in-time compilation
Job Access With Speech : A computer screen reader program for Microsoft Windows that allows blind and visually impaired users to read the screen either with a text-to-speech output or by a refreshable Braille display. JAWS is produced by the Blind and Low Vision Group of Freedom Scientific and was first released in 1995. † ℹ︎ is.gd/EJwKy3
Joint Photographic Experts Group : A joint committee between ISO/IEC JTC 1 and ITU-T (formerly CCITT) that created and maintains the JPEG, JPEG 2000, and JPEG XR standards. † ℹ︎ jpeg.org
Joomla : A content management system (CMS) for publishing web content. Joomla is built on a model-view-controller web application framework that can be used independently of the CMS. It was first released in 2005. † ℹ︎ joomla.org
JPEG : A commonly used method of lossy compression and a file format for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality. Since its introduction in 1992, JPEG has been the most widely used image compression standard in the world, and the most widely used digital image format, with several billion JPEG images produced every day as of 2015. † : → Joint Photographic Experts Group
JPG : → JPEG
jQuery : A JavaScript library designed to simplify HTML DOM tree traversal and manipulation, as well as event handling, CSS animation, and AJAX. The set of jQuery core features enabled by its selector engine (named “Sizzle” from v1.3) created a new “programming style,” fusing algorithms and DOM data structures. This style influenced the architecture of other JavaScript frameworks like YUI v3 and Dojo, later stimulating the creation of the standard Selectors API. As of 2019, jQuery is used by 73% of the 10 million most popular websites. jQuery was released in 2006 by John Resig. † ℹ︎ jquery.com
JS : → JavaScript
JScript : A dialect of the ECMAScript standard that is used in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. JScript is implemented as an Active Scripting engine. JScript was developed by Microsoft and first supported in Internet Explorer 3.0 released in 1996. Its most recent version is JScript 9.0, included in Internet Explorer 9. †
JSLint : A static code analysis tool used in software development for checking if JavaScript source code complies with coding rules. JSLint is provided primarily as a browser-based web application accessible through jslint.com, but there are also command-line adaptations. JSLint was created in 2002 by Douglas Crockford. † ℹ︎ jslint.com
JSON : → JavaScript Object Notation
JSON Feed : A web feed file format for web syndication in JSON instead of XML, as used by RSS and Atom. † ℹ︎ jsonfeed.org
JSON Web Encryption : An IETF standard providing a standardized syntax for the exchange of encrypted data, based on JSON and Base64. It is defined by RFC 7516. Along with JSON Web Signature (JWS), it is one of the two possible formats of a JWT (JSON Web Token). †
JSON Web Signature : An IETF standard (RFC 7515) for signing arbitrary data. This is used as the basis for a variety of web-based technologies, like JSON Web Token. †
JSON Web Token : An Internet standard for creating JSON-based access tokens that assert some number of claims. JWT claims can typically be used to pass identity of authenticated users between an identity provider and a service provider, or any other type of claims as required by business processes. †
JSON with Padding
: A historical JavaScript technique for requesting data by loading a script element. JSONP was proposed in 2005 by Bob Ippolito. It enables sharing of data bypassing same-origin policy, which disallows running JavaScript code to read media DOM elements or XMLHttpRequest data fetched from outside the page’s originating site. JSONP is vulnerable to the data source replacing the innocuous function call with malicious code, which is why it has been superseded by cross-origin resource sharing in modern applications. †
JSON-LD : → JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data
JSON-P : → JSON with Padding
JSON5 : → JSON5 Data Interchange Format
JSON5 Data Interchange Format : An unofficial superset of, and proposed extension to, the JSON format. The goal of JSON5 is to make it easier for people to write and maintain JSON. Its features relate to the handling of objects, arrays, strings, numbers, and comments. JSON5 is suggested to have a special file extension, .json5, as well as a different MIME type. ℹ︎ json5.org
JSONP : → JSON with Padding
JSP : → JavaServer Pages
JSS : → CSS-in-JS
JSSS : → JavaScript Style Sheets
JSX : → JavaScript XML
Just in Time : A business methodology aimed at reducing times within the production system as well as response times from suppliers and to customers, for everything to happen “just in time.” †
Just-in-time compilation : A way of executing computer code that involves compilation during execution of a program—at runtime—rather than before execution. Most often, this consists of source code or more commonly bytecode translation to machine code, which is then executed directly. A system implementing a JIT compiler typically continuously analyzes the code being executed and identifies parts of the code where the speed-up gained from compilation or recompilation would outweigh the overhead of compiling that code. †
JVM : → Java virtual machine
JWS : → JSON Web Signature
JWT : → JSON Web Token
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