Top 25 Application Development Acronyms 

Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. Ajax is a set of techniques using web technologies on the client-side to create asynchronous communication in web applications.

Application Programming Interface. An API enables an application or service to access the features or data of another operating system, application, or service.

Content Management System. A CMS is a software application used for creating and maintaining digital content.

Create, Read, Update, and Delete. In programming, create, read, edit, and delete are the four essential functions of data manipulation.

DataBase Management System. A software package designed to define, manipulate, retrieve and manage data in a database.

Development Operations. A system of working that helps to keep development, IT operations, and quality assurance departments coordinated and collaborative

Document Object Model. The DOM is a programming interface for HTML and XML documents.

Enterprise Resource Planning. ERP refers to software that organizations use to manage day-to-day business activities.

Extract, Transform, Load. ETL is a type of data integration that refers to the three steps (extract, transform, load) used to collate and process data from multiple sources.

Globally Unique Identifier. A 128-bit integer number used to identify resources.

Integrated Development Environment. IDE is software that provides facilities and functionality to developers for application development.

JavaScript Object Notation. JSON is a commonly used data-interchange format.

Model-View-Controller. An architectural pattern used in object-oriented programming, used for developing applications that distribute the program logic into three elements.

Open Authentication. An open protocol that makes secure authorization possible in a safe and standardized way.

Object-Oriented Programming. OOP is a programming paradigm based upon the notion of objects, each with unique attributes and behavior.

Object Relational Mapping. ORM is a mechanism that makes it possible to address, access and manipulate objects without having to consider how those objects relate to their data sources.

Representational State Transfer. REST defines a programming architectural style that provides standards of a uniform, layered architecture for communication between systems.

Software-as-a-Service. SaaS is a software solution that is purchased from a cloud service provider on a subscription or pay-per-use model. 

Software Development Kit. An SDK is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. 

Simple Object Access Protocol. SOAP is used to define a messaging protocol specification for exchanging structured information by web services.

Single-Page Application. A SPA is a web application or website that interacts with the user by dynamically rewriting the current web page with new data from the web server, instead of the old method of a web browser reloading or loading entirely new pages. 

Secure Sockets Layer. SSL is a protocol for web browsers and servers that allows for the authentication, encryption, and decryption of data sent over the Internet. 

User Interface. The means by which the user and a computer system interact, in particular the use of input devices and software.

User Experience. The application design process to provide meaningful and proper experiences to users. 

eXtensible Markup Language. XML is a markup language designed to establish a syntax for encoding readable documents that systems can easily parse.