From some basic internet terms to programming languages, we’ve compiled a list of all the important tech acronyms you may (or may not) need to know. Don’t worry, even the most tech-savvy forget what JPEG actually stands for. Developers, users and marketers alike, check out TECKpert’s tech acronym guide.
Acronym | Meaning |
ACL | Access Control List |
ADSL | Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line |
AES | Advanced Encryption Standard |
AGP | Accelerated Graphics Port |
AIFF | Audio Interchange File Format |
AJAX | Asynchronous JavaScript and XML |
ALU | Arithmetic Logic Unit |
API | Application Program Interface |
ASCII | American Standard Code for Information Interchange |
ASP | Active Server Page or Application Service Provider |
ATM | Asynchronous Transfer Mode |
AUP | Acceptable Use Policy |
AVS | Address Verification System |
AWS | Amazon Web Services |
Bash | Bourne-Again Shell |
BASIC | Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code |
BIOS | Basic Input/Output System |
BL | Backlink |
Blob | Binary Large Object |
BMP | Bitmap |
BR | Break |
BSOD | Blue Screen of Death |
BYOC | Bring Your Own Cloud |
BYOD | Bring Your Own Device |
CaaS | Communication as a Service |
CAD | Computer-Aided Design |
Cc | Carbon Copy |
CCD | Charged Coupled Device |
CDMA | Code Division Multiple Access |
CDN | Content Delivery Network |
CGI | Common Gateway Interface |
CIO | Chief Information Officer |
CLOB | Character Large Object |
CMO | Chief Marketing Officer |
CMOS | Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor |
CMS | Content Management System |
CMYK | Cyan Magenta Yellow Black |
CNAME | Canonical Name |
CPA | Cost Per Action |
CPC | Cost Per Click |
CPL | Cost Per Lead |
CPM | Cost Per 1,000 Impressions |
CPU | Central Processing Unit |
CRAP | Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity |
CRM | Customer Relationship Management |
CRON | Command Run ON |
CRUD | Create, Read, Update and Delete |
CSC | Card Security Code |
CSRF | Cross-Site Request Forgery |
CSS | Cascading Style Sheet |
CSS3 | Cascading Style Sheet Version 3 |
CTO | Chief Technology Officer |
CTR | Click-Through Rate |
CVS | Concurrent Versions System |
CVV | Card Verification Value |
DAC | Digital-to-Analog Converter |
DBMS | Database Management System |
DCIM | Digital Camera IMages |
DDL | Data Definition Language |
DDR | Double Data Rate |
DDR2 | Double Data Rate 2 |
DDR3 | Double Data Rate Type 3 |
DFS | Distributed File System |
DHCP | Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol |
DHTML | Dynamic HyperText Markup Language |
DIR | Directory |
DIV | Division |
DLC | Downloadable Content |
DLL | Dynamic Link Library |
DMA | Direct Memory Access |
DMOZ | Mozilla Directory |
DMZ | Demilitarized Zone |
DNS | Domain Name System |
DOM | Document Object Model |
DOS | Disk Operating System |
DPI | Dots Per Inch |
DRAM | Dynamic Random Access Memory |
DRM | Digital Rights Management |
DSL | Digital Subscriber Line |
DSLAM | Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer |
DTD | Document Type Definition |
DV | Digital Video |
DVD+R | Digital Versatile Disc Recordable |
DVD+RW | Digital Versatile Disk Rewritable |
DVD-R | Digital Versatile Disc Recordable |
DVD-RAM | Digital Versatile Disc Random Access Memory |
DVD-RW | Digital Versatile Disk Rewritable |
DVI | Digital Video Interface |
DVR | Digital Video Recorder |
ECC | Error Correction Code |
EDI | Electronic Data Interchange |
EIDE | Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics |
EMM | Enterprise Mobility Management |
EPS | Encapsulated PostScript |
EUP | Enterprise Unified Process |
EXIF | Exchangeable Image File Format |
FDDI | Fiber Distributed Data Interface |
FIFO | First In, First Out |
FILO | First In, Last Out |
FiOS | Fiber Optic Service |
FLA | Flash Authoring File |
FLOPS | Floating Point Operations Per Second |
FPU | Floating Point Unit |
FSB | Frontside Bus |
FTP | File Transfer Protocol |
Gbps | Gigabits Per Second |
GIF | Graphics Interchange Format |
GIGO | Garbage In, Garbage Out |
GIS | Geographic Information Systems |
GIT | GNU Interactive Tools |
GPS | Global Positioning System |
GPU | Graphics Processing Unit |
GTLD | Generic Top-Level Domain |
GUI | Graphical User Interface |
GUID | Globally Unique Identifier |
HDD | Hard Disk Drive |
HDMI | High-Definition Multimedia Interface |
HDTV | High Definition Television |
HDV | High-Definition Video |
HFS | Hierarchical File System |
HREF | HyperText Reference |
HTML | HyperText Markup Language |
HTML 4 | HyperText Markup Language Version 4 |
HTML 5 | HyperText Markup Language Version 5 |
HTTP | HyperText Transfer Protocol |
HTTPS | HyperText Transport Protocol Secure |
I/O | Input/Output |
IaaS | Infrastructure as a Service |
IBL | Inbound Link |
ICANN | Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers |
ICF | Internet Connection Firewall |
ICMP | Internet Control Message Protocol |
ICS | Internet Connection Sharing |
ICT | Information and Communication Technologies |
IDE | Integrated Device Electronics or Integrated Development Environment |
IDS | Intrusion Detection System |
IEEE | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers |
IGP | Integrated Graphics Processor |
IIS | Internet Information Services |
IMAP | Internet Message Access Protocol |
IMG | Image |
InterNIC | Internet Network Information Center |
IP | Internet Protocol |
IPS | Intrusion Prevention System |
IPX | Internetwork Packet Exchange |
IRC | Internet Relay Chat |
IRQ | Interrupt Request |
ISA | Industry Standard Architecture |
iSCSI | Internet Small Computer Systems Interface |
ISDN | Integrated Services Digital Network |
ISO | International Organization for Standardization |
ISP | Internet Service Provider |
IT | Information Technology |
JFS | Journaled File System |
JPEG | Joint Photographic Experts Group |
JRE | Java Runtime Environment |
JS | JavaScript |
JSF | JavaServer Faces |
JSON | JavaScript Object Notation |
JSP | Java Server Page |
Kbps | Kilobits Per Second |
KDE | K Desktop Environment |
KVM Switch | Keyboard, Video, and Mouse Switch |
LAMP | Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP |
LAN | Local Area Network |
LCD | Liquid Crystal Display |
LDAP | Lightweight Directory Access Protocol |
LED | Light-Emitting Diode |
LIFO | Last In, First Out |
LPI | Lines Per Inch |
LTE | Long Term Evolution |
LUN | Logical Unit Number |
MaaS | Monitoring as a Service |
MAC Address | Media Access Control Address |
MAM | Mobile Application Management |
MAMP | Mac OS X, Apache, MySQL, and PHP |
MANET | Mobile Ad Hoc Network |
MAPM | Mobile Application Platform Management |
Mbps | Megabits Per Second |
MBR | Master Boot Record |
MCA | Micro Channel Architecture |
MDI | Medium Dependent Interface |
MDM | Mobile Device Management |
MEAP | Mobile Enterprise Applications Platform |
MID | Merchant ID |
MIDI | Musical Instrument Digital Interface |
MIM | Mobile Information Management |
MIPS | Million Instructions Per Second |
MIS | Management Information System |
MMS | Multimedia Messaging Service |
MP3 | MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3 |
MPEG | Moving Picture Experts Group |
MTU | Maximum Transmission Unit |
NAT | Network Address Translation |
NetBIOS | Network Basic Input/Output System |
NIC | Network Interface Card |
NNTP | Network News Transfer Protocol |
NOC | Network Operations Center |
NSP | Network Service Provider |
NTFS | New Technology File System |
NUI | Natural User Interface |
NVRAM | Non-Volatile Random Access Memory |
OASIS | Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards |
OBL | Outbound Link |
OCR | Optical Character Recognition |
ODBC | Open Database Connectivity |
OEM | Original Equipment Manufacturer |
OLAP | Online Analytical Processing |
OLE | Object Linking and Embedding |
OOP | Object-Oriented Programming |
OSD | On Screen Display |
OSPF | Open Shortest Path First |
P2P | Peer To Peer |
PaaS | Platform as a Service |
PCB | Printed Circuit Board |
PCI | Peripheral Component Interconnect |
PCI-X | Peripheral Component Interconnect Extended |
PCMCIA | Personal Computer Memory Card International Association |
PDA | Personal Digital Assistant |
Portable Document Format | |
PHP | HyperText Preprocessor |
PIM | Personal Information Manager |
PMU | Power Management Unit |
PNG | Portable Network Graphic |
PON | Passive Optical Network |
POP3 | Post Office Protocol |
POST | Power On Self Test |
PPC | Pay Per Click |
PPGA | Plastic Pin Grid Array |
PPI | Pixels Per Inch |
PPL | Pay Per Lead |
PPM | Pages Per Minute |
PPP | Point to Point Protocol |
PPPoE | Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet |
PPS | Pay Per Sale |
PPTP | Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol |
PR | PageRank |
PRAM | Parameter Random Access Memory |
PROM | Programmable Read-Only Memory |
PS/2 | Personal System/2 |
PSD | PhotoShop Document |
PUM | Potentially Unwanted Modification |
PUP | Potentially Unwanted Program |
QA | Quality Assurance |
QBE | Query By Example |
RAID | Redundant Array of Independent Disks |
RAM | Random Access Memory |
RDF | Resource Description Framework |
RDRAM | Rambus Dynamic Random Access Memory |
RFID | Radio-Frequency Identification |
RGB | Red Green Blue |
RISC | Reduced Instruction Set Computing |
ROI | Return on Investment |
ROM | Read-Only Memory |
RoR | Ruby on Rails |
RPC | Remote Procedure Call |
RPM | Revenue Per 1,000 Impressions |
RSS | Really Simple Syndication |
RSS | RDF Site Summary |
RTE | Runtime Environment |
RTF | Rich Text Format |
RUP | Rational Unified Process |
S3 | Amazon Simple Storage Service |
SaaS | Software as a Service |
SAN | Storage Area Network |
SATA | Serial Advanced Technology Attachment |
SCSI | Small Computer System Interface |
SD | Secure Digital |
SDK | Software Development Kit |
SDRAM | Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory |
SDSL | Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line |
SEM | Search Engine Marketing |
SEO | Search Engine Optimization |
SERP | Search Engine Results Page |
SIMM | Single In-Line Memory Module |
SIP | Session Initiation Protocol |
SKU | Stock Keeping Unit |
SLA | Software License or Service Level Agreement |
SLD | Second-Level Domain |
SLI | Scalable Link Interface |
SMART | Self-Monitoring Analysis And Reporting Technology |
SMB | Server Message Block |
SMO | Social Media Optimization |
SMTP | Simple Mail Transfer Protocol |
SNMP | Simple Network Management Protocol |
SOA | Service Oriented Architecture |
SOAP | Simple Object Access Protocol |
SQL | Structured Query Language |
SRAM | Static Random Access Memory |
SRC | Source |
sRGB | Standard Red Green Blue |
SSD | Solid State Drive |
SSH | Secure Shell |
SSID | Service Side Includes |
SSID | Service Set Identifier |
SSL | Secure Sockets Layer |
SVG | Scalable Vector Graphics |
SVN | Subversion |
SWF | Small Web Format |
TCP/IP | Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol |
TFT | Thin-Film Transistor |
TIFF | Tagged Image File Format |
TLD | Top-Level Domain |
TTL | Time To Live |
TWAIN | Toolkit Without An Informative Name |
UAT | User Acceptance Testing |
UDDI | Universal Description Discovery and Integration |
UDP | User Datagram Protocol |
UGC | User Generated Content |
UI | User Interface |
UML | Unified Modeling Language |
UNC | Universal Naming Convention |
UPnP | Universal Plug and Play |
UPS | Uninterruptible Power Supply |
URI | Uniform Resource Identifier |
URL | Uniform Resource Locator |
USB | Universal Serial Bus |
UTF | Unicode Transformation Format |
UX | User Experience |
VCI | Virtual Channel Identifier |
VDI | Virtual Desktop Infrastructure |
VDSL | Very High Bit Rate Digital Subscriber Line |
VDU | Visual Display Unit |
VFAT | Virtual File Allocation Table |
VGA | Video Graphics Array |
VLB | VESA Local Bus |
VLE | Virtual Learning Environment |
VoIP | Voice Over Internet Protocol |
VPI | Virtual Path Identifier |
VPN | Virtual Private Network |
VPS | Virtual Private Server |
VRAM | Video Random Access Memory |
VRML | Virtual Reality Modeling Language |
W3C | World Wide Web Consortium |
WAIS | Wide Area Information Server |
WAIS | Web Accessibility Initiative |
WAMP | Windows, Apache, MySQL, and PHP |
WAN | Wide Area Network |
WAP | Wireless Application Protocol |
WCAG | Web Content Accessibility Guidelines |
WDDM | Windows Display Driver Model |
WEP | Wired Equivalent Privacy |
Wi-Fi | Wireless Fidelity |
WINS | Windows Internet Name Service |
WML | Wireless Markup Language |
WPA | Wi-Fi Protected Access |
WWW | World Wide Web |
WYSIWYG | What You See Is What You Get |
XHTML | Extensible HyperText Markup Language |
XML | Extensible Markup Language |
XMP | Extensible Metadata Platform |
XSLT | Extensible Style Sheet Language Transformation |
XSS | Cross-Site Scripting |
YUI | Yahoo! User Interface |
ZIF | Zero Insertion Force |