In the world of software development, we use and see a lot of acronyms. In this article, I’ve listed a lot of common acronyms, along with definitions, which can help your understanding in the workplace.
Software Development Acronyms
This article contains 185 different software development acronyms – abbreviations of words that software developers might see at work and during their career. Some of them might seem quite obvious (such as ASAP), some of them are technical (such as JSON) and others are depend on the workplace (such as MOM).
They are divided into sections to make it easier to read.
This isn’t a full list of acronyms. There are most likely some acronyms that you know of that are not on this list. If you know of any I’ve missed, add them in the comments section, and I’ll update this list.
Applications
These acronyms relate to applications that you might use at work.
Acronym | Stands For | Meaning |
AD | Active Directory | A directory service for Windows servers |
CRM | Customer Relationship Management | The process and systems that relate to storing and managing customer information |
CVS | Concurrent Versioning System | A source code control system |
IIS | Internet Information Services | A Web server created by Microsoft |
RTC | Rational Team Concert | A tool by IBM used for issue tracking and project management |
SAAS | Software as a Service | Software that is available online and accessed by users as needed. An alternative to software that is downloaded |
SAP | Systems Applications & Products | A German software product used by enterprises for many functions |
SVN | Subversion | A source code control system |
VSS | Visual Source Safe | A source code control system |
Business
These acronyms relate to business operations and finances.
Acronym | Stands For | Meaning |
AL | Annual Leave | A day off work in agreement with your employer |
ASAP | As Soon As Possible | Something that needs to be done immediately |
B2B | Business to Business | A service or product that is created by a business for other businesses |
B2C | Business to Consumer | A service or product that is created by a business for consumers (non-businesses) |
BAU | Business As Usual | An ongoing state of work, despite something that may have disturbed the workplace |
BPM | Business Process Management | Analysing business processes and identifying gaps and issues |
CAPEX | Capital Expenditure | The money that is spent on capital work, such as projects (once-off work) |
CMS | Content Management System | A system used to store and display content (text, images, etc) for users to view |
CV | Curriculum Vitae | An alternative to a resume , preferred in many parts of the world |
CY | Calendar Year | The period from Jan 1 to Dec 1, often used in planning |
DW | Data Warehouse | A database used for business intelligence and reporting. Read more here. |
EAP | Employee Assistance Program | A service offered by employers to assist their employees with issues |
ERP | Enterprise Resource Planning | The process of organising and planning resources for projects and company operations |
ETA | Estimated Time of Arrival | An estimate on the time that something will be finished by |
FT | Full Time | Someone who works a standard week of working hours |
FTE | Full Time Employees, or Full Time Equivalent | A full time employee. Often used in resource planning |
FY | Financial Year | The financial year used for the company. Varies by country |
HR | Human Resources | The company department responsible for employee issues and services |
ICT | Information and Communication Technology | The employment sector that software developers work in |
ITIL | Information Technology Infrastructure Library | A set of practices used in service management for IT |
KPI | Key Performance Indicators | A set of metrics or numbers used by a company to measure its success |
LWOP | Leave Without Pay | Taking time off work without being paid. Alternative to annual leave |
MoM | Month on Month | A report that compares one month to the previous month |
N/A | Not Applicable or Not Available | Indicates that something does not apply |
NDA | Non-Disclosure Agreement | An agreement signed by someone to keep the contents confidential. Often used on private projects |
OEM | Original Equipment Manufacturer | A company that manufactures equipment for users |
OPEX | Operational Expenditure | The money that is spent on operational work, such as support and management (ongoing work) |
PT | Part Time | Someone who works less than a standard week (e.g. 2 or 3 days per week) |
RAD | Rapid Application Development | A software development methodology |
RFP | Request For Proposal | A request that a company sends to a vendor to make a proposal for some work |
RFQ | Request For Quote | A request that a company sends to a vendor to make a quote for some work |
ROI | Return On Investment | The result that a company or a person gets on money that has been invested |
SEM | Search Engine Marketing | The process of promoting a company or service on search engines |
SEO | Search Engine Optimisation | The process of optimising a website to be found by search engines |
SKU | Stock Keeping Unit | A single item that can be tracked by a stock management system |
SL | Sick Leave | Taking time away from work for health reasons |
SLA | Service Level Agreement | An agreement between a company and a service provider. Often used in application support to refer to timeframes for resolution |
SME | Subject Matter Expert | An employee that knows an area of the business quite well |
SOE | Standard Operating Environment | The default computer configuration (software, hardware) for employees to use |
SOP | Standard Operating Procedure | The standard process for getting something done |
TIL | Time In Lieu | Taking time off as repayment for working extra hours at an earlier point |
TLA | Three Letter Acronym | An abbreviation of something that is three letters long |
WFH | Working From Home | An employee that performs their work from home, instead of coming in to the office |
WoW | Week on Week | A report that compares one week to the previous week |
WYSIWYG | What You See Is What You Get | A process of creating a design of software where the design matches the output |
YoY | Year On Year | A report that compares one year to the previous year |
YTD | Year To Date | The time period from the start of the calendar year to the current date |
Certification
These acronyms represent certifications in the IT industry. It’s not a complete list of certifications, though.
Acronym | Stands For | Meaning |
MCA | Microsoft Certified Architect | A Microsoft certification for architects |
MCAD | Microsoft Certified Application Developer | A Microsoft certification for developers |
MCAS | Microsoft Certified Application Specialist | A Microsoft certification for developers |
MCDBA | Microsoft Certified Database Administrator | A Microsoft certification for database administrators |
MCDST | Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician | A Microsoft certification for desktop support |
MCITP | Microsoft Certified Information Technology Professional | A Microsoft certification |
MCM | Microsoft Certified Master | An advanced Microsoft certification |
MCP | Microsoft Certified Professional | Someone who has a Microsoft certification |
MCPD | Microsoft Certified Professional Developer | A Microsoft certification for developers |
MCSA | Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator | A Microsoft certification for system administrators |
MCSD | Microsoft Certified Solution Developer | A Microsoft certification for developers |
MCSE | Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer | A Microsoft certification for developers |
MCT | Microsoft Certified Trainer | A Microsoft certification for trainers |
MCTS | Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist | A Microsoft certification for developers |
MTA | Microsoft Technology Associate | A Microsoft certification |
Documents
These acronyms relate to documents that might be used in software projects.
Acronym | Stands For | Meaning |
BRD | Business Requirements Document | A document that contains business requirements, both functional and non functional |
RDD | Requirements Definition Document | A document that specifies detailed requirements |
RTM | Requirements Traceability Matrix | A document that matches business requirements and tests to other areas of the system |
These acronyms relate to terms you might see and use in emails.
Acronym | Stands For | Meaning |
AP | Action Point | Something that needs to be done by someone, often as a result of a meeting |
BCC | Blind Carbon Copy | Sending a copy of an email to someone without the original recipient knowing |
CC | Carbon Copy | Sending a copy of an email to someone else |
COB | Close of Business | The end of a working day. Often used in deadlines, e.g. “COB Thursday” |
EOD | End of Day | The end of a working day. Often used in deadlines, e.g. “EOD Tuesday” |
EOM | End of Message | Indicates the end of a message |
FYI | For Your Information | Used to notify someone of some information |
IDK | I Don’t Know | Not knowing the answer |
IMHO | In My Humble Opinion | Providing your opinion |
MOM | Minutes of Meeting | A list of topics that were discussed in a meeting |
PFA | Please Find Attached | Indicates that a file has been attached |
TBA | To Be Advised, or To Be Announced | The details will be provided at a later date |
TBC | To Be Confirmed | The details will be provided at a later date |
TBD | To Be Determined | The details will be provided at a later date |
WRT | With Respect To/With Regards To | Referring to another topic that was mentioned |
General IT
These acronyms relate to general IT industry terms.
Acronym | Stands For | Meaning |
CS | Computer Science | The study and discipline of how computers and software work |
MIS | Management Information Systems | The study of IT and how it relates to business |
MIT | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | A well-known technology university in the United States |
MSDN | Microsoft Developer Network | A website by Microsoft that provides resources for developers |
SSO | Single Sign On | The ability to sign on to a website in one location and access all of its services |
Job Roles
These acronyms relate to job roles in the industry.
Acronym | Stands For | Meaning |
BA | Business Analyst | A person who gathers requirements from end users and communicates them to developers |
CEO | Chief Executive Officer | The person responsible for running a company |
CFO | Chief Financial Officer | The person responsible for the financial department of a company |
CIO | Chief Information Officer | The person responsible for the IT department of a company |
COO | Chief Operating Officer | The person responsible for daily operations of a company |
CTO | Chief Technology Officer | The person responsible for the technology department of a company |
DBA | Database Administrator | A person responsible for ensuring that a company’s databases are secure and operational |
EA | Executive Assistant | A personal assistant to an executive in a company |
ED | Executive Director | A mid-level role in a company |
GM | General Manager | A mid-level role in a company |
PA | Personal Assistant | Someone who assists a manager in a company |
PM | Project Manager | The person responsible for managing people and issues related to a project |
Programming
These acronyms relate to programming terms and technologies.
Acronym | Stands For | Meaning |
1NF | First Normal Form | The first stage of creating a normalised database |
2NF | Second Normal Form | The second stage of creating a normalised database |
3NF | Third Normal Form | The final stage of creating a normalised database |
AJAX | Asynchronous JavaScript and XML | A group of web development techniques to let you create asynchronous applications |
API | Application Programming Interface | An external interface from an application that other applications can access |
ASP | Active Server Pages | A server-side scripting language by Microsoft |
COBOL | Common Business-Oriented Langauge | An old programming language |
COM | Component Object Model | Interface for software components |
CSS | Cascading Style Sheets | A language used to organise and design how a web site looks |
DAO | Data Access Object | An object that provides access to a database |
DDL | Data Definition Language | A set of SQL terms used to create and alter objects |
DML | Data Manipulation Language | A set of SQL terms used to view data related to objects |
DOM | Document Object Model | A cross-platform and language-independent convention for interacting with documents |
EOF | End of File | Indicates the end of a file |
EOL | End of Line | Indicates the end of a line in a file |
ERD | Entity Relationship Diagram | A diagram created to explain how database tables or entities are related. To create one, use one of these tools. |
ERM | Entity Relationship Model | A diagram created to explain how entities in a program are related |
ETL | Extract, Transform, Load | The process of getting data from one database and loading it into a data warehouse |
FCL | Framework Class Library | Standard library for Microsoft’s .NET framework that includes a collection of classes |
FIFO | First In First Out | A queuing method that says the first item in is the first item out |
FSO | File System Object | An object that provides access to a file system |
GUID | Global Unique Identifier | A value in a database record used to uniquely identify that record in the database |
IDE | Integrated Development Environment | Software that allows developers to write code |
J2EE | Java 2 Enterprise Edition | A version of Java that is made for enterprise applications |
J2ME | Java 2 Micro Edition | A version of Java that is made for mobile applications |
J2SE | Java 2 Standard Edition | The standard version of Java |
JDBC | Java Database Connectivity | A method of connecting from an application to a database |
JDK | Java Development Kit | The software used to develop Java applications |
JFC | Java Foundation Classes | A graphical framework for building Java-based user interfaces |
JRE | Java Runtime Environment | The software used to run Java applications |
JS | JavaScript | A client-side scripting language used to develop Web applications |
JSON | JavaScript Object Notation | A lightweight data interchange format |
JSP | JavaServer Pages | A Java technology used to create web pages. |
JVM | Java Virtual Machine | The software used to run Java applications |
LIFO | Last In First Out | A queuing method that says the last item in is the first item out |
LOC | Lines of Code | The number of lines of code in a program. A way to measure the size of a program |
MAPI | Messaging Application Programming Interface | A messaging architecture and API for Windows |
MDA | Model-Driven Architecture | An approach to designing software that structures it around models |
MFC | Microsoft Foundation Classes | A library of classes that maps the Windows API into C++ classes |
MVC | Model View Controller | A software design that includes three levels of modules |
OLAP | Online Analytical Processing | A database used by business intelligence or data warehouses |
OLE | Object Linking and Embedding | A technology that allowsembedding and linking to documents and other objects |
OLTP | Online Transaction Processing | A database used by regular systems, such as websites and company systems |
OOP | Object Oriented Programming | Writing code and designing programs as a collection of smaller objects that interact with each other |
ORM | Object Relational Mapping | A technique for converting data between systems in object oriented programming languages |
PHP | Personal Home Page/PHP Hypertext Preprocessor | A popular language used to develop web sites |
REGEX | Regular Expression | A set of rules that are used to process strings |
REST | Representational State Transfer | An architectural style that allows loading data from web pages |
SCM | Source Code Management | The process of storing source code on a server and managing it for a team |
SDK | Software Development Kit | A collection of tools that allow developers to write code in a particular language |
SOLID | Single responsibility, Open-closed, Liskov substitution, Interface segregation, Dependency inversion | A principle of Object Oriented Programming. Something to learn if you want to improve your programming skills. |
SQL | Structured Query Language | A language used to access databases, such as Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server |
SQLXML | SQL Server XML | A version of XML used by SQL Server |
VB | Visual Basic | A Microsoft language used to write applications |
VBA | Visual Basic for Applications | A version of Visual Basic included in Microsoft Office programs |
VS | Visual Studio | An IDE or program developed by Microsoft that is used to write software |
SOAP | Simple Object Access Protocol | A messaging protocol that allows programs to communicate using HTTP |
XAML | Extensible Application Markup Language | An XML-based language designed by Microsoft |
XHTML | Extensible Hyptertext Markup Language | An extension of HTML |
XML | Extensible Markup Language | A language used to store data for transfer between systems |
XSD | XML Schema Definition | The definition of a particular set of XML files |
XSL | Extensible Stylesheet Language | The styling of an XML file |
YAGNI | You Ain’t Gonna Need It | A software development principle that says you should only develop for features that you know |
Project
These acronyms are related to project stages and processes.
Acronym | Stands For | Meaning |
AT | Acceptance Testing | Testing the software against the requirements to see if they have been met |
BDD | Behaviour Driven Development | Developing use cases based on user behaviour |
BDUF | Big Design Up Front | Performing the design of a system at the start of the project, instead of as you go |
BI | Business Intelligence | Gathering and analysing data from the company to perform business decisions |
BVT | Business Verification Testing | The process of verifying the product with a business user to ensure it meets their requirements |
Dev | Development | The process of writing software code |
FDD | Feature Driven Development | A method of development that is centred around developing for a feature |
PVT | Product Verification Testing | The testing process to ensure that the end product works without issues |
RUP | Rational Unified Process | A software development methodology, developed by IBM |
SIT | Systems Integration Testing | The testing process to ensure the software integrates with other systems successfully |
TDD | Test-Driven Development | A development process that starts with test cases, which are then used to develop requirements |
UAT | User Acceptance Testing | The testing process where end users perform tests and validate them against their requirements |
UI | User Interface | The display, screens, or windows of an application |
UML | Unified Modelling Language | A standard for diagrams and designing software |
UX | User Experience | The process of using the application from a user’s perspective. Includes UI, process, and customer journeys |
XP | Extreme Programming | A software development methodology |
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Wow, that is quite a list.
Like that you put them in sections.
Thank you for putting this together.
Glad you find it useful!
thanks so sir
Thank you so much
How about the acronym RN used in software development to refer to a build? What does RN stand for?
It’s Very nice and useful,
Great listing.
Recommended Additions to the list:
3NL is not the final stage of creating a normalized database.
There is at least a 4th and 5th normal form. However, most database designs stop at 3NL.
Besides DML and DDL, oracle has DCL (Data Control Language) also.
Very useful and clear presentation, thank you