PCI
/ˌpiː-siː-ˈaɪ/
n. “The standard expansion bus that connected peripherals before PCIe.”
PCI, short for Peripheral Component Interconnect, is a local computer bus standard introduced in the early 1990s that allowed expansion cards, such as network adapters, sound cards, and graphics cards, to connect directly to a computer’s motherboard. It provided a shared parallel interface for data transfer between the CPU and peripheral devices.
Key characteristics of PCI include:
AGP
/ˌeɪ-dʒiː-ˈpiː/
n. “The dedicated graphics highway of early PCs.”
AGP, short for Accelerated Graphics Port, is a high-speed point-to-point channel introduced in 1997 for connecting graphics cards to a computer’s motherboard. It was designed specifically to improve the performance of 3D graphics by providing a direct pathway between the GPU and system memory, bypassing the slower shared PCI bus.
Key characteristics of AGP include:
Peripheral Component Interconnect Express
/ˌpiː-siː-aɪ-iː/
n. “The high-speed lane that connects your computer’s components.”
PCIe, short for Peripheral Component Interconnect Express, is a high-speed interface standard used to connect expansion cards (such as graphics cards, NVMe SSDs, network cards) directly to a computer’s motherboard. It replaced older PCI and AGP standards by providing faster data transfer rates, lower latency, and scalable lanes for bandwidth-intensive components.
Key characteristics of PCIe include:
XIP
/ɛks-aɪ-pi/
n. “Running code directly from non-volatile memory without copying it to RAM first.”
XIP, short for eXecute In Place, is a technique used in computing where programs are executed directly from non-volatile memory, such as NOR flash, rather than being loaded into RAM. This approach reduces RAM usage, speeds up startup times for embedded systems, and simplifies memory management in devices with limited resources.
Key characteristics of XIP include:
HDD
/ˌeɪtʃ-diː-ˈdiː/
n. “The traditional spinning disk that stores your data magnetically.”
HDD, short for Hard Disk Drive, is a type of data storage device that uses rotating magnetic disks (platters) to store and retrieve digital information. It has been the standard for decades, providing large storage capacities at relatively low cost, but it is slower and more fragile than SSD storage because it relies on mechanical components.
Key characteristics of HDD include:
SSD
/ˌɛs-ɛs-ˈdiː/
n. “The fast storage that has no moving parts.”
SSD, short for Solid-State Drive, is a type of data storage device that uses flash memory to store persistent data. Unlike traditional mechanical hard disk drives (HDDs), SSDs have no moving parts, which allows for faster read/write speeds, lower latency, higher reliability, and reduced power consumption.
Key characteristics of SSD include:
JIT
/ˌdʒeɪ-aɪ-ˈtiː/
n. “Compiling code at the exact moment it becomes useful.”
JIT, short for just-in-time compilation, is a runtime compilation strategy where source code or intermediate bytecode is translated into machine code while the program is running. Instead of compiling everything up front, the system waits, observes what code is actually being executed, and then optimizes those hot paths on the fly.
AOT
/ˌeɪ-oʊ-ˈtiː/
n. “Compiling code before it ever reaches the user.”
AOT, short for ahead-of-time compilation, is a compilation strategy where source code is translated into optimized machine code before the program is run. This contrasts with JIT (just-in-time compilation), where code is compiled at runtime as it is needed.
CDN
/ˌsiː-diː-ˈɛn/
n. “A network that delivers content at the speed of thought.”
CDN, or Content Delivery Network, is a distributed network of servers strategically placed across the globe to deliver web content—such as HTML pages, images, videos, and scripts—quickly and reliably to users, regardless of their location. Instead of all requests going to a single origin server, a CDN caches content at edge locations, reducing latency, load times, and the chance of downtime.