Glossary of common terms
This glossary defines a number of words you will see used often in discussions about Moodle - you'll find them highlighted throughout this course.
If you wish to import this glossary to your Moodle site, you can download this file of exported entries: glossary_of_common_terms_20101214.xml.
Please feel free to add new words here!
All categories |
COMPUTING TERMS |
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Interface | |||
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In general an interface is the boundary across which two systems communicate. There are many software interfaces within Moodle, for example, such as the interface a module uses to communicate with the core product, or the interface used to send mail. Usually, though, this term refers to the interface between software and human beings: the user interface. In Moodle, for example, this is what we see and click on in the web browser and in our mail programs, and it provides ways for us to access, understand and change the database at the heart of any Moodle site. The design of such an interface requires collaboration between software developers and users to make it "user-friendly" (and maximise overall usability). A very important requirement for interfaces is standardisation, which reduces the amount of learning that users need to do to explore the features in the software. Moodle has had informal standards in the past, but we are currently writing a more formal specification to help Moodle's many developers produce a more consistent interface, and remove some of the irregular, inefficient or hard-to-learn interfaces that have crept into various corners of Moodle. With Moodle, interface issues should be discussed in the forums most appropriate to them - if you wish to raise discussion about an interface in the Chat module, use the Chat forum. If you have a specific bug or request to report, please use the bug tracker. | |||
Java | ||
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Java: a programming language that can be
used to write all kinds of programs, from Applets which run in the
browser to Midlets that run in Palm handhelds or cell phones to desktop
client programs and especially server-side programs including web server
"servlets". Moodle does not use any Java.
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Javascript | ||
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A scripting language that can be used to write small programs in web pages, such as popup menus. Moodle uses a little Javascript. | ||
JSON | ||
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JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is an open standard file format and data interchange format that uses human-readable text to store and transmit data objects consisting of attribute–value pairs and arrays (or other serializable values). JSON is a language-independent data format. It was derived from JavaScript, but many modern programming languages include code to generate and parse JSON-format data. | ||
LambdaMOO | ||
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MOO - LambdaMOO Server | ||
LAMP | ||
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LAMP, a free open source software solution stack, Linux (as OS), Appache(as a web server), MySQL (as a DBMS server), either PHP, Perl or Python (as a Scripting Language). | ||
LDAP | ||
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Lightweight Directory Access Protocol - is an application protocol for modifying directory services. It is commonly used for user and computer directories for domains. | ||
Mahara | ||
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Established in 2006, Mahara is the result of a collaborative venture funded by New Zealand's Tertiary Education Commission's e-learning Collaborative Development Fund (eCDF), involving Massey University, Auckland University of Technology, The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand and Victoria University of Wellington. Released in Feb 2007 Mahara is a fully featured electronic portfolio, weblog, resume builder and social networking system, connecting users and creating online communities. Mahara is designed to provide users with the tools to demonstrate their learning, skills and development over time to selected audiences. Meaning `think' or `thought' in Te Reo Maori, the name reflects the project's dedication to creating a user-centred life-long learning and development application as well as the belief that technology solutions cannot be developed outside the considerations of pedagogy and policy. Mahara is provided freely as Open Source software (under the GNU General Public License). In brief, this means that you are allowed to copy, use and modify Mahara provided you agree to; provide the source code to others; not modify or remove the original license and copyrights, and apply this same license to any derivative work. For further information please see https://eduforge.org/projects/mahara/ and http://mahara.org | ||
MAMP | |||
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