Aixo Lab

Glossary

A plain-language glossary of software project terms.

Software proposals are full of words that sound precise and mean different things to different people. These definitions are short and practical, and each term comes with the Traditional Chinese equivalent commonly used in Hong Kong, so a bilingual team can be sure it is talking about the same thing.

How to use this page

  • Terms are grouped by the stage of a project where you meet them.
  • Chinese terms follow Hong Kong usage and are given in brackets; many people also use the English word in Chinese conversation.
  • Definitions are simplified on purpose. Where a rule or price matters, check the current detail.

Planning and commercial terms

  • Scope (範疇) — what a project will and will not include. Most disagreements trace back to an unwritten scope.
  • Scoping or discovery (範疇釐定) — a short, early phase to clarify needs, risks and priorities before committing to a full build.
  • MVP, minimum viable product (最小可行產品) — the smallest real release that tests your main idea. See planning a first release.
  • Prototype (原型) — a clickable or rough version used to test ideas. Usually thrown away.
  • Wireframe (線框圖) — a simple sketch of a screen's layout, without visual design.
  • User story (用戶故事) — a one-sentence description of what a user wants to do and why.
  • Stakeholder (持份者) — anyone affected by or influencing the project, inside or outside your company.
  • Milestone (里程碑) — an agreed checkpoint, often linked to a payment.
  • Change request (變更要求) — a request to alter agreed scope, normally priced and approved before work starts.
  • Handover (交接) — delivery of code, documents and accounts so you can run or move the product.
  • SLA, service level agreement (服務水平協議) — a promise about support, such as response times.
  • Person-week (人週) — one person working for a week; a common way to size effort and, with a rate, cost.

Building terms

  • Front end (前端) — the part users see and touch: screens, buttons, forms.
  • Back end (後端) — the part running behind the scenes: logic, data and connections.
  • API, application programming interface (應用程式介面) — a defined way for two pieces of software to talk to each other.
  • Integration (整合) — connecting your product to another system, such as payments or accounting.
  • Database (資料庫) — organised storage for the product's information.
  • Framework (框架) — a ready-made foundation that speeds up building and sets conventions.
  • Open source (開源) — software whose code is public and usable under a licence. Check each licence's terms.
  • Responsive design (自適應設計) — layouts that adapt to phone, tablet and computer screens.
  • Native app (原生應用程式) — an app built separately for iPhone or Android with the platform's own tools.
  • Cross-platform app (跨平台應用程式) — one codebase published to both iPhone and Android. See native, cross-platform or web.
  • Web app (網頁應用程式) — software used in a browser, with nothing to install.
  • Progressive web app, PWA (漸進式網頁應用程式) — a web app that can be added to a home screen and work partly offline.
  • Admin panel (管理後台) — the area where your team manages content, users and orders.
  • CMS, content management system (內容管理系統) — a tool that lets non-developers edit website content.
  • Technical debt (技術債) — shortcuts taken now that make later changes slower and costlier.

Running and hosting terms

  • Hosting (託管) — the computers that serve your website or app to users.
  • Cloud (雲端) — rented computing capacity from a large provider, paid by usage.
  • Domain (網域) — your web address, such as example.com.hk. Register it in your own name.
  • SSL/TLS certificate (安全證書) — what lets a site use https and encrypt traffic.
  • CDN, content delivery network (內容傳遞網絡) — a service that serves files from locations close to users, for speed.
  • Staging (測試環境) — a private copy of the product for testing changes before release.
  • Production (正式環境) — the live version real users see.
  • Deployment (部署) — releasing a new version to a live environment.
  • Backup (備份) — a saved copy of data. It is only useful if restoring from it has been tested.
  • Uptime (正常運作時間) — the share of time a service is available.
  • Maintenance (維護) — ongoing updates, security fixes and small improvements after launch.

Data, security and privacy terms

  • PDPO (《個人資料(私隱)條例》) — Hong Kong's Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance. See our plain-language guide.
  • PCPD (個人資料私隱專員公署) — Hong Kong's privacy regulator, which publishes guidance.
  • Personal data (個人資料) — information about a living person from which they can be identified.
  • Data processor (資料處理者) — an outside party that handles personal data on your behalf, such as a hosting or email service.
  • Retention (保留期限) — how long you keep data before deleting or anonymising it.
  • Encryption (加密) — scrambling data so only authorised parties can read it, in storage and in transit.
  • Two-factor authentication, 2FA (雙重驗證) — signing in with a password plus a second proof, such as a code.
  • Role-based access (按角色存取) — each person sees and does only what their job needs.
  • Audit trail (審計軌跡) — a record of who did what and when.

Messaging, payments and AI terms

  • WhatsApp Business Platform (WhatsApp 商業平台) — the programmable service for connecting WhatsApp to your systems. See WhatsApp options.
  • Template message (範本訊息) — a pre-approved message format used to start conversations on the platform.
  • Opt-in (同意接收) — a customer's recorded permission to be contacted.
  • Webhook (網絡掛鉤) — an automatic notification one system sends another when something happens.
  • Payment gateway (支付閘道) — the service that processes online card and wallet payments.
  • FPS, Faster Payment System (轉數快) — Hong Kong's instant bank-transfer system.
  • LLM, large language model (大型語言模型) — the kind of AI behind modern chat assistants and text tools.
  • Hallucination (虛構內容) — when an AI states something plausible but false.
  • Human in the loop (人員覆核) — a design where a person checks AI output before it is used.

Spotted a term we missed?

Tell us which word came up in a proposal that nobody could explain. We will add it.

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