Java and Internet Glossary

OOP - Object Oriented Programming
a technique for writing programs, became popular in the 1980s

OOPSLA -  Conference on Object-Oriented Programming, Systems, Languages, and Applications
technical/academic conference

XP - eXtreme Programming
a technique for writing programs
up-and-coming, very hip
complementary to OOP
started in the 1990s

Java
programming language and platform, created by Sun

JavaScript
browser scripting language, created by Netscape
has nothing in common with Java except for the first four letters

XML - eXtensible Markup Language
data format and technology, W3C standard

W3C - World Wide Web Consortium
standards body that created HTML, XML, etc.

HTML - Hypertext Markup Language
most Web pages are written in this language

API - Application Programming Interface
a set of libraries and tools that programmers can use
performs common tasks, so programmers don't have to reinvent the wheel
(or the window)

JDBC - Java Database Connectivity
a Java API for accessing SQL databases

JNI - Java Native Interface
a Java API for accessing the OS of the local (physical) machine 

JDOM - Java Document Object Model
a Java API for accessing XML documents

Servlets
a Java API for writing programs that run inside a Web server

JSP - Java Server Pages
a page template language
the Web server executes a JSP and outputs an HTML page
looks like a hybrid between HTML and Java

XMLC - XML Compiler
a page template system
competitve with JSP
looks like real HTML on one side, and real Java on the other side
the Web server executes the Java and outputs HTML

EJB - Enterprise Java Beans
an API and server platform for building "enterprise applications" in
Java.  Should probably have been called "Transactional Java Objects" since
(a) they're not JavaBeans, and (b) they prioritize transactional
integrity over performance, clarity, and functionality

enterprise application
a program that requires transactions, persistence, high availability,
and other bank-oriented features

Web server or HTTP server
a program that accepts HTTP requests and returns files (like HTML or
GIF or JPEG); also, a machine (host) running such a program 

HTTP - HyperText Transfer Protocol
the most common file transfer protocol on the Web

GIF - Graphics Interchange Format
a binary file format for images
The GIF format is a compressed format, with no loss of quality for
pictures with fewer than 256 different colors. 

JPEG - Joint Pictures Expert Group. 
The committee which set standards for graphics file format. The
JPEG file format is a compressed format, with some loss of quality
during compression. Popular on the Web.

WAP - Wireless Application Protocol
a standard for building cell phones that can connect to the Internet

network 
any group of computers that can exchange data with one another

IP - the Internet Protocol

internet (lowercase 'i')
any network using IP (the Internet Protocol)

Internet (capital 'I')
the public internet that comprises an enormous number of computers

WWW - World Wide Web
abbreviated "Web" (not "web")

HTTP - HyperText Transfer Protocol
The most widely-used protocol on the Web, used for transferring files
(like HTML, GIF, JPEG, PDF, etc.) from a Web server to a Web browser

Web browser
a client-side program that uses the HTTP Protocol (and also other
protocols like FTP) to download and display files to a user.  All Web
browsers contain an HTML renderer.

SOAP - Simple Object Access Protocol
a protocol designed in XML to send simple messages to a Web Service
and get back simple responses
just like HTTP, only more complicated and less powerful

Refactoring
Take an existing program that works, and turn it into a program that
still works exactly the same, only cleaner on the inside
Part of XP