A Professional Developer Dictionaryđ
Photo by Bekky Bekks on Unsplash
Technical jargon is one thing, but in the corporate world, there are a set of buzzwords and phrases that may leave you wondering if everybody is speaking a different language.
Itâs high time someone stepped in to demystify these terms, and up steps The Secret Developer. Hereâs a humorous take on some of those terms to help you navigate your next tech tĂȘte-Ă -tĂȘte without needing a translator.
Ping
Real meaning: A tool to test network response time.
Developer speak: âI will contact you,â but makes you sound cool and tech-savvy when you really mean youâll simply send a Slack message.
Rubber Ducking
Real meaning: Explaining code line-by-line to an inanimate object (like a rubber duck) to find errors.
Developer speak: What developers say theyâre doing when theyâre actually just talking to themselves. And you shouldnât be doing either.
Boilerplate
Real meaning: Sections of code used over and over without modification.
Developer speak: I copied this from Stack Overflow.
Bikeshedding
Real meaning: Futile expenditure of time and energy in discussion of marginal technical issues.
Developer speak: The art of arguing over the color of text. Should this be dark grey or black?
Refactor
Real meaning: The process of restructuring existing computer code.
Developer speak: âIâm going to make this mess I wrote look like I know what I was doing.â
Legacy Code
Real meaning: Code inherited from someone else or a previous version of the software.
Developer speak: Code that comes with a silent scream.
Hackathon
Real meaning: An event where programmers collaborate intensively on software projects.
Developer speak: A socially acceptable reason to avoid the shower for a weekend.
Code Smell
Real meaning: A surface indication that usually corresponds to a deeper problem in the system.
Developer speak: This code stinks, fix it, please.
Easter Egg
Real meaning: A hidden item placed in a movie, television show, or otherwise that isnât part of the main story.
Developer speak: A secret feature in the software that proves developers are capable of having fun.
Bandwidth
Real meaning: The capacity to transmit data.
Developer speak: I donât have the time or mental capacity to deal with this right now.
Conclusion
Donât feel you have to use these words in your next standup meeting, but I think it would be funny if you did. Go on, it will be our joke that we share together.