Explain It Simply
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📖 Quick Glossary

Every topic in one sentence. Click a term for the full explanation.

🤖 AI Software that learns patterns from lots of data and uses them to make guesses or decisions.
🧩 Algorithms A set of step-by-step instructions for solving a problem - like a recipe, but for a computer.
🔌 API A way for one app or website to ask another app or website for information.
📱 App vs Website A website runs inside a browser and works the same on any device; an app is installed on your device and can use its hardware and work offline.
⛓️ Blockchain A shared list of records that many computers all keep a copy of, making it very hard to tamper with.
🧭 Browsers A program that reads website code and turns it into the pages you see on screen.
🚚 CDN A network of servers spread around the world that stores copies of a website's files, so you're served from whichever copy is closest to you.
☁️ Cloud "The cloud" just means using other people's computers on the internet instead of your own.
💾 Cloud Storage vs Backup Cloud storage keeps a live, synced copy of your files that updates everywhere at once; a backup is a separate snapshot that protects you if something goes wrong.
🍪 Cookies A small file a website saves on your device to remember things about you, like that you're logged in.
🎨 CSS Decides how a website looks - colours, fonts, spacing, and layout.
🛡️ Cybersecurity The practice of protecting computers, data, and networks from people who want to access them without permission.
🗄️ Databases An organised store of information that apps can search, read, and update instantly.
📖 DNS Like a phone book for the internet - it translates website names like "google.com" into the address computers actually use.
🧱 Firewall A checkpoint that filters traffic in and out of a network or device, blocking anything that doesn't match the rules it's been given.
🎭 Frontend vs Backend The frontend is everything you see in a browser; the backend is the invisible logic and data storage that powers it.
📦 Git A tool that keeps track of changes you make to your code over time.
📄 HTML The language that tells a website what things exist on a page, like text, buttons, and images.
🔒 HTTPS & Encryption Encryption scrambles your data so only the intended recipient can read it - the padlock in your browser means this is happening.
🌐 The Internet A giant network of computers all around the world that are connected together and can talk to each other.
📡 IP Addresses A unique number assigned to every device on the internet, so data knows where to go and where to come back from.
📨 IP Packets A small chunk of data wrapped with sender and destination addresses, sent across the internet and reassembled at the other end.
⚡ JavaScript Lets websites do things when you interact with them, like clicking buttons or filling in forms.
💬 LLMs & Chatbots An AI trained on enormous amounts of text that predicts the next word in a sentence - chatbots like ChatGPT are built on top of one.
🗃️ Local Storage Another way websites save data in your browser - holds more than a cookie, stays only on your device, and isn't sent to the server.
🧠 Machine Learning The technique where software improves at a task by practising on lots of examples, without being told the rules.
🦠 Malware & Viruses Malicious software designed to damage, steal from, or take control of your device without permission - a virus is just one type.
🌱 Open Source Software whose code anyone can read, use, copy, and improve - built in public, often for free.
🗣️ Programming Languages A set of words and rules humans use to write instructions that a computer can follow.
🖥️ Servers A computer that's always turned on and ready to send websites or data to other computers.
⌨️ Terminal A text-based window where you type commands directly to your computer, instead of clicking buttons and icons.
🔐 Two-Factor Authentication Proving who you are in two different ways - like your password plus a code sent to your phone.
🔗 URLs The full web address of a page - it tells your browser exactly which server to contact and which page to ask for.
🚇 VPN Encrypts your internet traffic and routes it through another server, hiding your activity from your network and your real IP address.
🌍 Websites A bunch of pages stored on a computer somewhere else, which your computer asks to see.
📶 Wi-Fi & Routers Wi-Fi is the wireless signal your devices use to connect to your router, which shares your internet connection around your home.