Web Application Dictionary
Part I — User Interface (GUI)
Chapter 1. Basic Layout
Header
Footer
Sidebar
Toolbar
Navigation Bar
Content Area
Panel
Pane
Card
Container
View
Viewport
Region
Each term would include:
Panel
Definition
A rectangular area that groups related controls.
Example
A panel containing all search filters.
When to use
When multiple controls belong together.
Related terms
Container
Card
Sidebar
Dialog
HTML example
Part II — User Interaction
Button
Icon Button
Floating Button
Dropdown
Accordion
Tabs
Tree View
Data Grid
Modal
Drawer
Tooltip
Toast
Notification
Wizard
Part III — Icons
Chevron
Caret
Hamburger
Kebab
Meatballs
Plus
Minus
Gear
Avatar
Part IV — Frontend Architecture
Browser
│
├── HTML
├── CSS
├── JavaScript
├── Framework
├── Components
├── Router
├── State
└── API Client
Terms:
Component
State
Props
Store
Router
Route
View
Hook
Directive
Virtual DOM
Hydration
Rendering
Part V — Backend Architecture
HTTP Request
│
Controller
│
Service
│
Repository
│
Database
Terms:
Controller
Action
Middleware
Service
Repository
Model
Entity
DTO
Factory
Dependency Injection
Part VI — Data
Database
Table
Row
Record
Column
Field
Primary Key
Foreign Key
Index
View
Trigger
Stored Procedure
Transaction
Migration
Seed
Part VII — HTTP
Browser
│
GET /students/5
│
Server
│
200 OK
Terms:
Request
Response
Header
Body
Status Code
Endpoint
Route
Resource
REST
GraphQL
Part VIII — Authentication
Login
Authentication
Authorization
Session
Cookie
JWT
OAuth
Permission
Role
ACL
Part IX — Security
HTTPS
TLS
Hashing
Encryption
Salt
CSRF
XSS
SQL Injection
CORS
CSP
Part X — Performance
Cache
CDN
Compression
Minification
Bundling
Lazy Loading
Code Splitting
Tree Shaking
Part XI — Deployment
Developer
│
Git
│
CI
│
Build
│
Docker
│
Production Server
Terms:
Build
Deploy
Pipeline
Docker
Container
Reverse Proxy
Nginx
Environment
Production
Staging
Part XII — Design Patterns
Not just definitions, but diagrams.
For example:
MVC
User
│
▼
Controller
│
▼
Model
│
▼
Database
│
▲
View
Similarly for:
MVC
MVVM
Repository
Observer
Factory
Singleton
Dependency Injection
Strategy
Adapter
Facade
Decorator
Part XIII — Complete Application Walkthrough
A complete example application showing how all the pieces fit together.
Browser
Student List Page
Search Box
Data Grid
Pagination
↓
JavaScript
↓
GET /students
↓
Controller
↓
StudentService
↓
StudentRepository
↓
Database
↓
JSON Response
↓
Browser updates Data Grid
Then expand this with topics such as:
Logging
Caching
Validation
Authentication
Authorization
Error handling
Background jobs
Email sending
File uploads
Notifications
Audit logs
Consistent structure for every term
Every entry would follow the same template:
Definition – a concise explanation.
Purpose – why the concept exists.
When to use – typical scenarios.
Common mistakes – frequent misconceptions.
Related terms – links to connected concepts.
Example – a practical code or UI example.
Diagram – where the concept fits in the overall architecture.
This approach turns the glossary into a practical handbook rather than a simple list of definitions.
Given your background as a software development teacher, I'd also tailor the examples to a familiar stack—HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP (Yii2), SQL, REST APIs, and Bootstrap—so students can immediately relate the terminology to code they are writing.