Terminology

An Application Programming Interface (API) is an interface implemented by a software program which enables it to interact with other software. It is similar to the way the user interface facilitates interaction between humans and computers.

Dynamic Link Library (DLL) is Microsoft's implementation of the shared library concept in the Microsoft Windows and OS/2 operating systems. These libraries usually have the file extension DLL, OCX (for libraries containing ActiveX controls), or DRV (for legacy system drivers).

Extensible Markup Language (XML), is a generic format intended for maximum flexibility to provide information in a wide variety of structural formats. A variety of XML specifications exist for different applications, including RSS amongst others.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is the Internet protocol defining how to download and upload files between a client and an FTP server.

HyperText Markup Language (HTML), is the predominant markup language for web pages. It provides a means to create structured documents by denoting structural semantics for text such as headings, paragraphs, lists, links, quotes and other items. It allows images and objects to be embedded and can be used to create interactive forms.

HyperText Preprocessor (PHP) is a widely used, general-purpose scripting language that was originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document.

HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the method of file transfer specially used for HTML documents. It is the default on most, if not all, browsers and therefore does not need to be keyed when entering a URL address. This protocol utilizes TCP to transfer hypertext requests and information between servers and browsers.

Internet Protocol (IP) is the standard that allows dissimilar hosts to connect to each other through the Internet. This protocol defines the IP datagram as the basic unit of information sent over the Internet. The IP datagram consists of an IP header followed by a message.

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a form of real-time Internet chat or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group (many-to-many) communication in discussion forums called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication and data transfers via private message.

Network Address Translation (NAT) is the process of modifying network address information in datagram (IP) packet headers while in transit across a traffic routing device for the purpose of remapping a given address space into another.

Remote Procedure Call (RPC) is a protocol that enables distributed system components to communicate with eachother. This protocol allows a computer program to cause a subroutine or procedure to execute in another address space, commonly on another computer on a shared network, without the programmer explicitly coding the details for this remote interaction.

Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a family of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) specifications originally designed as a metadata data model. It has come to be used as a general method for conceptual description or modeling of information that is implemented in web resources, using a variety of syntax formats.

Rich Site Summary (also: RDF Site Summary; Really Simple Syndication) is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works -- such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video -- in a standardized format.

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is a cryptographic protocol that provides security for communications over networks such as the Internet. TLS and SSL encrypt the segments of network connections at the Application Layer to ensure secure end-to-end transit at the Transport Layer.

Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), is a protocol specification for exchanging structured information in the implementation of Web Services in computer networks. It relies on eXtensible Markup Language (XML) as its message format, and usually relies on other Application Layer protocols (most notably Remote Procedure Call (RPC) and HTTP) for message negotiation and transmission.

Structured Query Language (SQL) is a worldwide standard used to manage data in relational databases. SQL facilitates the sharing of data especially in large and interconnected databases. Commonly pronounced as the letters themselves, S-Q-L, but sometimes pronounced 'Sequel'.

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is a computer protocol that allows one computer to send the other a continuous stream of information by breaking it into packets and reassembling it at the other end, resending any packets that get lost in the Internet. TCP uses IP to send the packets, and the two together are referred to as TCP/IP.

Transport Layer Security (TLS) and its predecessor, Secure Socket Layer (SSL), are cryptographic protocols that provide security for communications over networks such as the Internet. TLS and SSL encrypt the segments of network connections at the Application Layer to ensure secure end-to-end transit at the Transport Layer.

Several versions of the protocols are in widespread use in applications like web browsing, electronic mail, Internet faxing, instant messaging and voice-over-IP (VoIP).

User Datagram Protocol (UDP) enables two hosts to connect and send short messages to one another. Unlike Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), it does not guarantee that data is received or that it is received in the order in which it was sent. Without having to ensure that each data packet arrives in the correct sequence, UDP is faster and more efficient. Thus, it is useful for situations in which time is an issue. Also known as "Unreliable Datagram Protocol".

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP, Voice over IP) is a general term for a family of methodologies, communication protocols, and transmission technologies for delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. Other terms frequently encountered and synonymous with VoIP are IP telephony, Internet telephony, voice over broadband (VoBB), broadband telephony, and broadband phone.

VoIP systems employ session control protocols to control the set-up and tear-down of calls as well as audio codecs which encode speech allowing transmission over an IP network as digital audio via an audio stream. Codec use is varied between different implementations of VoIP (and often a range of codecs are used); some implementations rely on narrowband and compressed speech, while others support high fidelity stereo codecs.