Fetch-API
/fɛtʃ ˌeɪ piː aɪ/
noun … “a modern web interface for making network requests and handling responses programmatically.”
Protocol-Buffers
/ˈproʊtəˌkɒl ˈbʌfərz/
n. “The compact language for talking to machines.”
Protocol Buffers, often abbreviated as Protobuf, is a language- and platform-neutral mechanism for serializing structured data, developed by Google. It allows developers to define data structures in a .proto file, which can then be compiled into code for multiple programming languages. This provides a fast, efficient, and strongly-typed way for systems to communicate or store data.
Key characteristics of Protocol Buffers include:
gRPC
/ˌdʒiː-ɑːr-piː-siː/
n. “The high-speed messenger between services.”
gRPC, short for Google Remote Procedure Call, is an open-source framework that enables fast, efficient, and strongly-typed communication between distributed systems. It allows a client to directly call methods on a server as if they were local functions, abstracting away the complexities of network communication.
Key characteristics of gRPC include:
GraphQL
/ˈɡræf.kjuː.ɛl/
n. “A smarter way to ask for exactly the data you need.”
GraphQL is a query language and runtime for APIs, originally developed by Facebook, that allows clients to request precisely the data they need from a server, no more and no less. Unlike traditional REST APIs, where endpoints return fixed structures, GraphQL gives clients the flexibility to shape responses, reducing over-fetching and under-fetching of data.
Key characteristics of GraphQL include:
SDK
/ˌɛs-diː-ˈkeɪ/
n. “Here are the tools. Please don’t reinvent them.”
SDK, short for Software Development Kit, is a bundled collection of tools, libraries, documentation, and conventions designed to help developers build software for a specific platform, service, or ecosystem. An SDK exists to answer a simple but expensive question: “How do I do this the right way without guessing?”
Maps
/mæps/
n. “Where the world fits in your palm.”
Maps, as in Google Maps, is a web-based mapping service that combines geographic data, satellite imagery, street-level views, and real-time traffic information into a single interactive experience. It allows users to navigate, explore, and understand spatial relationships across cities, countries, and even remote locations.
Document Object Model
/ˈdiː-ˈoʊ-ˈɛm/
n. “Where the browser meets your code.”
DOM, short for Document Object Model, is a programming interface for HTML and XML documents. It represents the page so scripts can change the document structure, style, and content dynamically. Think of it as a live map of the web page: every element, attribute, and text node is a node in this tree-like structure that can be accessed and manipulated.
XMLHttpRequest
/ˌɛks-ɛm-ɛl-ˌhɪt-ti-pi rɪˈkwɛst/
n. “Old school, but still gets the job done.”
XMLHttpRequest, often abbreviated as XHR, is a JavaScript API that enables web browsers to send HTTP requests to servers and receive responses without needing to reload the entire page. Introduced in the early 2000s, it became the backbone of what we now call AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), allowing dynamic updates and interactive web applications.
fetch
/fɛtʃ/
v. “Go get it — straight from the source.”
fetch is a modern JavaScript API for making network requests, replacing older mechanisms like XMLHttpRequest. It provides a clean, promise-based interface to request resources such as HTML, JSON, or binary data from servers, making asynchronous operations much more readable and manageable.
cURL
/kərl/
n. “Talk to the internet without a browser.”
cURL is a command-line tool and library (libcurl) for transferring data with URLs. It supports a vast array of protocols, including HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, SMTP, and more, making it a Swiss Army knife for internet communication and scripting.