IT Glossary
Key Terms To Know In The IT Industry

GPG (GNU Privacy Guard)

A free software implementation of the OpenPGP standard as defined by RFC4880, which allows the encryption and signing of data and communications.

You will find this term commonly used in Security / Cybersecurity

GPG Key

A part of the encryption technology used by the GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG) software, GPG keys include a private key that is kept secret and a public key that is shared with others.

You will find this term commonly used in Security / Cybersecurity

GPGPU (General-purpose computing on graphics processing units)

The use of a GPU (graphics processing unit) to perform computation in applications traditionally handled by the central processing unit (CPU).

You will find this term commonly used in Hardware / AI

GPGPU Computing

A technique of using a graphics processing unit (GPU) for general computing purposes, including but not limited to graphics rendering.

You will find this term commonly used in Hardware / AI

GPRS (General Packet Radio Service)

A packet-oriented mobile data standard on the 2G and 3G cellular communication network's global system for mobile communications (GSM).

You will find this term commonly used in Networking

GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)

A specialized electronic circuit designed to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device.

You will find this term commonly used in Hardware / AI

GPU Acceleration

The technique of using a GPU to speed up algorithm processing, especially in areas like machine learning, video rendering, and scientific simulation.

You will find this term commonly used in Hardware / AI

GPU Database

A database system that uses Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) for faster data processing, particularly useful for complex computations like those needed in big data analytics.

You will find this term commonly used in Database Management, Big Data

GPU Mining

The use of a graphics processing unit (GPU) to mine cryptocurrency. GPUs can process hashes much faster than CPUs, making them more efficient for cryptocurrency mining.

You will find this term commonly used in Cryptocurrency / Hardware

GPU Overclocking

The process of increasing the operating speed of a Graphics Processing Unit beyond the manufacturer's specifications to enhance performance.

You will find this term commonly used in Hardware, Performance Optimization

GPU Shader Programming

Writing programs (shaders) that run on a GPU to control rendering processes, including visual effects, transformations, and lighting.

You will find this term commonly used in Graphics Programming, Game Development

Graceful Degradation

A design philosophy or strategy that ensures a website or web application will still function in older browsers or less capable devices, albeit with a reduced level of functionality.

You will find this term commonly used in Web Development / UX Design

Graceful Failover

The ability of a system to automatically switch to a redundant or standby system upon failure, with minimal disruption.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking, High Availability

Gradle

An open-source build automation tool designed for multi-language software development. It controls the development process in the tasks of compilation and packaging to testing, deployment, and publishing.

You will find this term commonly used in Software Development

Gradual Learning System

Systems designed to learn and adapt over time from incremental inputs, simulating a more natural learning process.

You will find this term commonly used in AI, Machine Learning

Gradual Typing

A programming language feature that allows for a mix of static and dynamic typing within the same program. This approach enables developers to balance between flexibility and safety of typing.

You will find this term commonly used in Software Development

Grafana

An open-source platform for monitoring and observability. Grafana allows you to query, visualize, alert on, and understand your metrics no matter where they are stored.

You will find this term commonly used in Software Development / Networking

Grafana Loki

A horizontally scalable, highly available, multi-tenant log aggregation system inspired by Prometheus. It is designed to be very cost-effective and easy to operate.

You will find this term commonly used in Software Development / Networking

Grand Central Dispatch (GCD)

A technology developed by Apple to optimize application support for systems with multi-core processors and other symmetric multiprocessing systems.

You will find this term commonly used in Software Development / General IT

Grandfather-Father-Son Backup

A common rotation scheme for backup copies involving three or more generations of backup files.

You will find this term commonly used in Security / General IT

Grandfather-Father-Son Backup Strategy

A common method of backup rotation where three or more generations of backups are kept. The "grandfather" is the oldest copy, the "father" is the middle copy, and the "son" is the most recent copy.

You will find this term commonly used in Security / Data Management

Graph Algorithms

Algorithms that are used to solve problems related to graph theory, including searching, pathfinding, and connectivity.

You will find this term commonly used in Data Analysis / AI

Graph Analytics

The process of analyzing data in a graph format, where mathematical structures model pairwise relations between objects. It's used extensively in social network analyses, neural network training, and more.

You will find this term commonly used in AI / Database Management

Graph Clustering

The process of grouping vertices in a graph into clusters, based on their connectivity and edge values, for data analysis and visualization.

You will find this term commonly used in Data Science, Network Analysis

Graph Computation Framework

A software framework designed to simplify the process of developing and running applications that perform complex computations on graphs, such as social network analysis, web link structures, and bioinformatics.

You will find this term commonly used in Data Analysis / AI

Graph Database

A database that uses graph structures for semantic queries with nodes, edges, and properties to represent and store data.

You will find this term commonly used in Database Management

Graph Embedding

The process of transforming nodes, edges, and their features into a vector space, while preserving graph topology, for machine learning applications.

You will find this term commonly used in AI, Machine Learning

Graph Neural Networks (GNN)

A type of neural network designed to represent graph structures, enabling direct learning from graphical data.

You will find this term commonly used in Artificial Intelligence, Data Science

Graph Partitioning

The process of dividing a graph into multiple components such that the number of edges or vertices in each component is balanced and the number of edges cut is minimized. This is crucial in parallel computing and network design.

You will find this term commonly used in Data Analysis / Networking

Graph Processing

A method used in data science and analytics that focuses on the analysis of data that can be structured in graph form, often for understanding relationships and patterns within complex networks.

You will find this term commonly used in Data Analysis / AI

Graph Theory

The study of graphs, which are mathematical structures used to model pairwise relations between objects. It's a fundamental part of computer science and discrete math.

You will find this term commonly used in AI / Software Development

Graph Transforms

Techniques for converting graph data structures into different formats or representations, often for optimization or analysis purposes.

You will find this term commonly used in Data Science, AI

Graph-based Data Model

A data model where the data structures are graphs, allowing for the representation of relationships and networks efficiently.

You will find this term commonly used in Databases, Data Science

Graphic Equalizer

A device or software that adjusts the balance between frequency components of an audio signal, often used in music production and playback.

You will find this term commonly used in Sound Engineering, Multimedia

Graphic Tablet

A device that enables users to draw images and graphics with a pen-like stylus, translating hand-drawn art into digital form.

You will find this term commonly used in Digital Art, User Input Devices

Graphical Configuration

The use of graphical interfaces to configure software or hardware settings, making the process more intuitive.

You will find this term commonly used in General IT

Graphical Data Analysis

The use of visual representations to explore, analyze, and present data, helping to uncover patterns or trends.

You will find this term commonly used in Data Science, Visualization

Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) Virtualization

The use of software to allocate graphical processing unit resources among multiple virtual workloads. This technology allows for efficient sharing of GPU resources for tasks such as 3D graphics rendering and machine learning.

You will find this term commonly used in Virtualization / Hardware

Graphical Query Builder

A tool that allows users to create database queries visually without writing SQL code directly, aiming to simplify database interactions for non-technical users.

You will find this term commonly used in Database Management, UI Design

Graphical User Interface Design

The process of designing the visual elements and experience of user interfaces for software applications.

You will find this term commonly used in UI/UX Design

Graphics Pipeline Optimization

Techniques to enhance the efficiency of the graphics rendering process, improving performance and visual quality in applications.

You will find this term commonly used in Computer Graphics, Performance Optimization

Graphics Rendering Pipeline

The sequence of steps used by a graphical engine to render 3D computer graphics onto a 2D screen.

You will find this term commonly used in Computer Graphics, Game Development

GraphQL

A data query language developed by Facebook in 2012 before being publicly released in 2015. It provides an approach to developing web APIs and has been described as a more powerful alternative to REST.

You will find this term commonly used in Software Development

GraphQL API