AI & app-building glossary

An extra verification step the customer's bank requests during online card payments, often a code on the phone or approval in the bank app.

Showing two versions of a page or feature to two groups of users at the same time to see which performs better.

The specific conditions that, once met, mean a feature is finished and accepted; written before building, not after.

A way of working where AI completes a task through a chain of steps it plans and checks itself, rather than one single reply.

An AI system that does more than reply: it plans, takes multiple steps and uses tools to accomplish a defined goal.

The check Apple and Google run on every app or update before publishing it in their stores, to confirm it follows their guidelines.

An agreed way for two programs to talk and exchange data, such as your app and a payment gateway or shipping service.

Verifying a user's identity before letting them in, using a password, a one-time code or another account.

Automatically adding or removing server resources based on traffic, keeping the app fast without paying for unused capacity.

The hidden part of an app that processes requests, applies business rules and handles the database and payments.

Regular copies of an app's data stored separately so you can restore them after accidental deletion, failures or attacks.

A pattern of lines or squares that carries an item's number, read by a scanner in an instant instead of typing the number by hand.

A game that runs right inside a web browser on a phone or computer by opening a link, with nothing to download or install from a store.

A written description of a software problem that lets anyone reproduce and fix it: the steps, what was expected, what actually happened, with evidence.

A payment option that lets customers split a purchase into installments, while the merchant is paid by the provider.

The final steps of a purchase: reviewing the cart, entering an address, choosing delivery and paying.

The share of customers or subscriptions that stop during a given period, such as a month or a year.

Using AI to write program code from a text description, from a single line up to a complete app.

A geographically distributed network of servers that caches your site's files and serves them from the point closest to each visitor.

The maximum amount of text, measured in tokens, a model can see and take into account in a single request or conversation.

Automatically testing every code change and deploying it, so updates ship quickly with fewer mistakes.

The share of visitors who take the desired action, such as buying, signing up or booking, out of all visitors.

Moving your existing data from files such as Excel or CSV into a new system, so work starts with your records instead of a blank page.

Defining the geographic location where data is stored and processed, which may need to be inside a specific country under regulations or contracts.

The structure that describes how data is organized: tables, fields, their types and the relationships between them.

The system that stores an app's data in an organized, permanent way, such as users, orders and products, and lets you query and update it.

Moving a version of an app onto real servers so it becomes available to users on the internet.

A program installed on a computer that opens from the desktop or Start menu in its own window, rather than inside a web browser.

Moving the way a company works from paper, phone calls and scattered files to connected digital systems that make work faster and clearer.

Your website's address on the internet that customers type into a browser, like your store name followed by .com or .sa.

The system that translates a domain name into the actual server address, like the internet's phone book.

Issuing and storing invoices in a structured electronic format that meets tax authority requirements, such as Fatoora in Saudi Arabia.

Turning text or images into a list of numbers that captures meaning, so content with similar meaning ends up numerically close.

Turning data into a form that can only be read with a special key, protecting it in transit and at rest.

A test that walks the whole user journey through the real interface, from the first page to the final result, exactly as a customer would.

One large system that brings a company's departments, sales, purchasing, inventory, accounting and HR, onto a shared database.

Structured test sets that measure the quality of an AI system's outputs in a repeatable, comparable way.

A file ending in .exe that Windows runs directly when you open it; most Windows programs and their installers arrive in this form.

Extra training of an existing model on your own examples so it learns a specific style or task more reliably.

The number of pictures a game draws each second. The higher and steadier it is, the smoother the motion and the snappier the controls.

The part of an app users see and interact with: pages, buttons, forms and visual design.

The underlying software that handles drawing, movement, physics and sound, so the game maker can focus on the idea and the levels.

The cycle a game repeats dozens of times a second: read the player's input, update the world, then draw the picture.

Tying a model's answers to specific, trusted information sources instead of relying only on its general knowledge.

Rules and checks placed around an AI model to stop unwanted or risky responses and actions.

When a language model states false or made-up information with full confidence, as if it were fact.

The invisible rectangle around a character or enemy that the game uses to decide whether a touch happened.

The stage where a trained model is actually run to produce an answer for a new request; it is what you pay for on each use.

A single file you run once; it copies the program onto the computer and adds its shortcut to the desktop and Start menu.

Preparing an app technically to support multiple languages and regions, including text, direction and date and currency formats.

A specific number you track regularly to see whether your business or app is moving toward its goal, such as weekly sales or return rate.

An AI system trained on huge amounts of text so it can understand language and write text, code and answers.

The time between sending a request and receiving the response, whether to an AI model, a page or a server.

The craft of arranging platforms, enemies and rewards in a level so the player learns and is challenged without getting bored or frustrated.

A database that lives in a file on the computer itself, so the program works without internet and the data stays on that machine.

Platforms that build most of an app with visual tools while letting you write some code for special or complex parts.

A 3D art style that builds models from a small number of flat polygon faces, so they look simple and stylish and run light.

Saudi Arabia's national payment network used by local bank debit cards, in stores and online.

The simplest version of your product that solves the core customer problem, launched quickly so you learn from real usage.

An open standard that defines a common way to connect AI applications to external tools and data sources.

An AI model that understands or produces more than one type of data, such as text, images and audio together.

An app installed from the App Store or Google Play that runs directly on iOS or Android with full access to device features.

Tools that let you build websites and apps through visual interfaces and drag-and-drop, without writing code.

A design approach where the program does its full job with no connection; the internet is an optional extra, not a requirement to run.

A temporary code, usually sent by SMS or an app, used once to confirm identity or approve a sensitive action.

A service that connects your app to banks and card networks to accept online payments securely and move funds to your account.

The name used for personal data protection laws in countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, governing how data is collected, used and kept.

The cashier program: the screen where the seller rings up an order, totals it with tax, takes payment and prints the receipt.

A short document explaining why a product is being built, for whom, which features go into the first version and how success will be judged.

The stage where your product meets a real need in a clear market, so customers keep using it, recommend it and pay for it.

A website that can be installed on a phone's home screen and behaves like an app, without going through app stores.

The text or instructions you give a language model to request a task, such as a question or a description of an app to build.

The skill of writing, testing and systematically refining instructions for language models so they give accurate, consistent results.

The organized work of making sure a website or app does what it is supposed to do before it reaches customers.

Re-running earlier tests after every change to make sure what used to work was not broken by the new change.

Design that adapts automatically to screen size, so it looks right on phones, tablets and computers.

A technique where the system first searches your own data for information relevant to a question, then the model answers based on it.

The writing and layout direction used for Arabic, which requires mirroring the whole interface, not just the text.

Organizing permissions by user role, such as admin, staff or customer, so each role sees and does only what it should.

Quickly returning an app to its last good version when a new update causes a problem.

Running code on demand on infrastructure fully managed by a provider, so you manage no servers and usually pay per use.

A written commitment from a provider to a defined performance level, such as uptime and response time for incidents.

Signing in to several apps with one account, such as a company or Google account, instead of a password per app.

A quick check of a few minutes on a system's most important functions after each release, to confirm it works at all before any deeper testing.

A model where software is delivered online by subscription instead of being bought and installed on the customer's devices.

A document that details exactly what a system must do: functions, roles, data and constraints, serving as the reference for building and acceptance.

A file of rows, columns and cells, such as Excel or Google Sheets, where data is typed in and calculated with formulas.

The 2D image that represents a character, an enemy or a coin in a game and moves over the background.

A certificate that encrypts the connection between a browser and your site, shown as a padlock and an https address.

A near-identical copy of the live app used to try updates before they reach customers.

A standard language for working with relational databases: adding, reading, updating and deleting data.

Automatically charging customers recurring amounts, monthly or yearly, for an ongoing service or product.

Fixed background instructions set by the app's developer that define an AI assistant's role, limits and tone in every conversation.

A setting that controls how random or creative a model's output is: low values are more consistent, high values more varied.

Having tests run automatically instead of repeating them by hand, so they finish in minutes after each change or on a fixed schedule.

A written description of one specific check: where you start, what you do step by step, and what result you should see.

A way of building game levels from small repeated squares, like floor tiles: ground, wall, platform, water.

The smallest chunk of text a language model reads and writes, often a word or part of one; usage and cost are usually measured in tokens.

A model's ability to request a function or external service, such as looking up an order or booking a slot, and use the result in its reply.

One sentence describing a feature from the point of view of the person using it: 'As a…, I want…, so that…'.

A database built to store embeddings and quickly find the content closest in meaning to a query.

A system that records every code change, who made it and when, and lets you compare or return to any earlier version.

Building software by describing what you want to AI in plain language, then refining the result through conversation instead of hand-writing code.

An automatic notification a service sends to your app the moment something happens, such as a successful payment or shipment update.

The sequence of steps a request or transaction passes through from start to finish: who does what, in which order, and who approves.