Glossary

application programming interface (API)

An application programming interface or API is the medium, method, and rules through which a user interacts with software. The API includes a medium which can be a command line interface on a specific local terminal or a graphical user interface. The API also defines the commands through which a user interacts with the software.

benevolent dictator

In economic models, a benevolent dictator is a central planner who makes decisions for the economy that maximize the welfare of the economy’s citizens.

Bitbucket

Bitbucket or Bitbucket.org is a cloud source code management service platform designed to enable scalable, efficient, and secure version controlled collaboration by linking local Git version controlled software development by developers.

Bitkeeper

Bitkeeper is a centralized version control system (CVCS) that was the first version control system used by the Linux kernel development team. Bitkeeper was proprietary software that was free to use for open source projects. But in 2005, the Linux kernel development team switched to Git because of a dispute with Bitkeeper’s owner, Larry McVoy.

Box, Inc.

Box Inc. is a cloud storage and file sharing service provided by Box, Inc.

branch

In git a branch is a copy of a codebase that is created to make changes to the codebase without affecting the original codebase.

centralized version control system

A centralized version control system or CVCS is an approach to version control in which all the files in a repository as well as the change history (content and timing) are located on a central remote server. User’s check out versions of files from the repository and check them back in, creating new change history on the central server.

clone

Clone can be a verb or a noun in the context of Git software. A clone is a local copy of a remote repository with its entire Git distributed version control system history. To clone a repository is to use the git clone [repo path] command to copy a remote repository to your local machine with the accompanying Git version control history.

cloud

Cloud can be a descriptor or a noun. As a descriptor, cloud refers to computational resources, such as servers, that are accessed remotely via the internet. As a noun, remote computational resources and storage can be referred to generically as “the cloud”.

command line interface

A command line interface, or CLI, is a text-based interface that allows a user to interact with software using text commands.

commit

Commit can be a verb or a noun. In git, a commit is a snapshot of the current state of the files in a repository at a particular point in time. To commit is to create a commit.

continuous integration

Continuous integration or continuous integration unit testing is the process of automatically testing code changes to a software project to ensure that the changes do not break the software. Continuous integration is a key component of distributed version control system (DVCS) software development.

distributed version control system

A distributed version control system or DVCS is version control system software on any computer, local or remote, that tracks the entire history of changes to a repository and coordinates and organizes collaboration among multiple users. It is distributed in the sense that multiple clones of a single remote repository have the same full history of that repository.

Dropbox

Dropbox is a cloud storage and file sharing service provided by Dropbox, Inc.

fork

A fork is a copy of a repository that is created by a user to make changes to the repository without affecting the original repository. A fork is a remote repository that is linked to the original remote repository.

Git

Git is open source version control system software with capability designed to also operate as distributed version control system (DVCS) software that resides on your local computer and tracks changes and the history of changes to all the files in a directory or repository. See the Git website https://git-scm.com/ and the Git Wikipedia entry [Wikipedia Contributors, 2020] for more information.

GitHub

GitHub or GitHub.com is a cloud source code management service platform designed to enable scalable, efficient, and secure version controlled collaboration by linking local Git version controlled software development by users. GitHub’s main business footprint is hosting a collection of millions of version controlled code repositories. In addition to being a platform for distributed version control system (DVCS), GitHub’s primary features include code review, project management, continuous integration unit testing, GitHub actions, and associated web page (GitHub pages) and documentation hosting and deployment.

GitHub actions

GitHub actions are a set of tools that automate software development workflows. GitHub actions are a key component of continuous integration (CI) software development.

GitLab

GitLab is a cloud source code management service platform designed to enable scalable, efficient, and secure version controlled collaboration by linking local Git version controlled software development by users. GitLab’s main business footprint is hosting a collection of millions of version controlled code repositories. In addition to being a platform for distributed version control system (DVCS), GitLab’s primary features include code review, project management, continuous integration unit testing, GitHub actions, and associated web page (GitLab pages) and documentation hosting and deployment.

Google Docs

Google Docs are a suite of cloud-based software applications that include a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and other software applications. Google Docs are a cloud-based alternative to Microsoft Office.

Google Drive

Google Drive is a cloud storage and file sharing service provided by Google.

graphical user interface

A graphical user interface or GUI is a visual interface that allows a user to interact with software using visual elements such as windows, buttons, and menus.

integrated development environment

Integrated development environment or IDE is a software application that consolidates many of the functions of software development under one program. IDE’s often include a code editor, object memory and identification, debugger, and build automation tools. (See IDE Wikipedia entry [Wikipedia Contributors, 2020].)

Linux

Linux is an open source operating system kernel that is the basis for many open source operating systems, including Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, and Red Hat. Linux is the most common operating system for servers and is the basis for the Android operating system for mobile devices.

local

Local is a descriptor that refers to files that reside or operations that are performed on a user’s machine to which he or she has direct access without using the internet.

local version control system

A local version control system or LVCS is the simplest and most common approach to VCS. LVCS stores all the changes to the files in a repository locally on the user’s machine as a series of changes or deltas in the files. This is the approach taken by Apple’s Time Machine backup software as most software that includes an “undo” function.

merge

Merge is a verb that refers to the process of combining two or more branches of a repository into a single branch.

OG-Core

OG-Core is an open source large scale overlapping generations macroeconomic model of fiscal policy. This model is general and is a dependency of country calibrations that use OG-Core, such as OG-USA.

open source

Open source is a descriptor that is usually applied to software or computer code projects, but can also be applied to any project based upon or represented by digital files. An open source project is one in which the source code is freely available to be downloaded and used and in which collaboration, improvements, and changes to the code are encouraged. The free download and use (outward direction) aspect of open source is often emphasized. But the collaboration and improvement contribution (inward direction) aspect is at least as important. Git and GitHub have enabled efficient and scalable collaboration to a degree not seen in other collaborative workflows.

pull request

Pull requests are requests to pull changes from one fork of a repository (or branch) into the another fork (or branch).

remote

Remote is a descriptor that refers to files that reside or operations that are carried out on a server to which a user has access using the internet.

repository

A repository or “repo” is a directory containing files that are tracked by a version control system. A local repository resides on a local machine. A remote repository resides in the cloud.

source code management service

A source code management service is a cloud platform that hosts computer code files and provides either centralized version control system (CVCS) or distributed version control system. As the central hub of either CVCS or DVCS, the source code management service provides the platform and rules for distributed code collaboration. Leading examples are GitHub and Bitbucket.

unit testing

Unit testing is the testing of individual units of code to determine whether they are fit for use. Unit testing is often automated and is a key component of continuous integration (CI) software development.

version control system

Version control system or version control software or VCS is software that records changes to a set of files, including the order in which the changes were made and the content of those changes, in such a way that previous versions can be recalled or restored.

Visual Studio Code (VS Code)

Visual Studio Code or VS Code is an open source text editor maintained by Microsoft.