Dictionary

ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) is an automated data processing pattern where data is extracted from source systems, transformed into a desired format or structure, and loaded into a target system like a data warehouse. Modern variations include ELT, where raw data is loaded first and transformed in place. ETL pipelines are essential for automating data integration, reporting, and feeding clean data into ML training workflows.

An embedding is a dense numerical vector representation of data — such as text, images, or code — in a high-dimensional space where semantically similar items are positioned closer together. Embeddings are fundamental to semantic search, recommendation systems, and RAG pipelines. They are generated by specialized models and typically stored in vector databases for efficient similarity lookups.

Event-driven architecture (EDA) is a software design pattern where components communicate by producing and consuming events rather than making direct synchronous calls. When something happens — a user signs up, an order is placed — an event is emitted, and any number of subscribers can react independently. This decoupling enables highly scalable, loosely coupled systems where new automations can be added without modifying existing services.

Expo is a platform and set of tools built around React Native that simplifies mobile app development by providing a managed workflow, pre-configured native modules, and over-the-air update capabilities. With Expo, you can start building without installing Xcode or Android Studio, test on physical devices via the Expo Go app, and deploy updates without app store review cycles. Expo's EAS (Expo Application Services) handles cloud builds, submissions, and updates for production apps.

A feature flag (also called feature toggle) is a technique that lets you enable or disable functionality in production without deploying new code. Flags can target specific users, percentages, or environments, enabling practices like A/B testing, canary releases, and kill switches. Tools like LaunchDarkly, Unleash, and Statsig provide automated flag management with real-time evaluation and analytics.

Figma is a browser-based collaborative design tool used for creating UI designs, prototypes, and design systems. Its real-time multiplayer editing, component system, auto layout, and dev mode have made it the industry standard for product design. Developers use Figma to inspect designs, extract CSS values, export assets, and — through plugins and APIs — automate the design-to-code workflow.

Fine-tuning is the process of further training a pre-trained AI model on a smaller, domain-specific dataset to adapt it for a particular task. Instead of training from scratch, fine-tuning adjusts existing model weights, which is significantly cheaper and faster. Common approaches include full fine-tuning, LoRA (Low-Rank Adaptation), and instruction tuning for aligning model behavior with specific requirements.

Flexbox (Flexible Box Layout) is a one-dimensional CSS layout model designed for distributing space and aligning items within a container along a single axis — either horizontal or vertical. It excels at handling dynamic content sizes, centering elements, and creating flexible navigation bars, card rows, and form layouts. Properties like `justify-content`, `align-items`, and `flex-grow` give you fine-grained control over how items share available space.

Flutter is Google's open-source UI toolkit for building natively compiled applications for mobile, web, and desktop from a single Dart codebase. Unlike React Native which maps to platform-native UI components, Flutter renders everything with its own high-performance Skia/Impeller rendering engine, giving developers pixel-perfect control over every element on screen. This approach ensures identical visual output across platforms but means Flutter widgets don't automatically adopt platform-specific design conventions.

Focus management is the practice of controlling which element receives keyboard focus in a web application, especially during dynamic content changes. When a modal opens, focus should move into it; when it closes, focus should return to the trigger element. Proper focus management is essential for keyboard and screen reader users, and involves techniques like focus trapping, roving tabindex, and programmatic focus with `element.focus()`.

Generative AI is a category of artificial intelligence that creates new content — text, images, code, music, or video — rather than just analyzing or classifying existing data. Powered by architectures like transformers and diffusion models, generative AI has transformed software development with tools like GitHub Copilot, Claude, and Cursor. It represents a shift from AI as a classification tool to AI as a creative collaborator.

Git hooks are scripts that Git executes automatically before or after events like commits, pushes, and merges. Common examples include pre-commit hooks that run linters and formatters, commit-msg hooks that enforce message conventions, and pre-push hooks that run tests. Tools like Husky and lint-staged make it easy to manage hooks across a team, catching issues before they reach the remote repository.