Glossary

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A

Admin Computing

The Wharton Computing group that supports staff.

AirPennNet

Penn's Wireless network, accessible on campus.

API

Application Programming Interface: A set of clearly defined methods of communication between various components.

API key

An application programming interface key (API key) is a code passed in by computer programs calling an application programming interface (API) to identify the calling program, its developer, or its user to the Web site.

Aspect Ratio

The ratio of width to height of an image. 16:9 is commonly called widescreen, and is the elongated rectangular image of most current TVs. 4:3 is the older, more square shape. For example, a screen that is 16' wide by 9' high is 16:9. A screen that is 4' wide by 3' high is 4:3, and so is one that is 8' by 6', etc.

AWS

Amazon Web Services is a cloud platform built by Amazon.

B

BYOD

byod

Bring Your Own Device. This is Audio-Visual shorthand for laptops, phones, tablets, and any other electronic device a user supplies to be displayed for an audience.

D

Document Camera

doc cam

A real-time image capture device for displaying an object to an audience. They are used in the classroom for displaying papers and drawings to the projection screens.

E

endpoint

Endpoints facilitate a standard programmable layer of abstraction whereby heterogeneous software systems and/or subsystems may communicate with each other and that the means of communication are decoupled from the communicating subsystems.

G

git

Git is a distributed version-control system for tracking changes in source code during software development.

I

IoT

Internet of Things. This term refers to the increasingly common set of ordinary appliances that are now connected to the internet, such as smart refrigerators, security doorbells, and other devices.

ISC

Penn's Information Systems and Computing, also known as Penn Computing. This is Penn's IT organization, providing centralized services such as wifi and email to all 12 schools and multiple centers of the University. Some schools, like Wharton, have their own IT organization for specialized services.

J

JSON

JSON is a syntax for serializing objects, arrays, numbers, strings, booleans, and null. It is based upon JavaScript syntax but is distinct from it: some JavaScript is not JSON.

L

LLM

LLM

Large Language Model -- typically a reference to emerging generative AI tools.

Lorem ipsum

Lorem ipsum is a placeholder text commonly used to demonstrate the visual form of a document without relying on meaningful content (also called greeking).

M

matrix table question

Matrix Table questions allow you to ask about multiple items in one question.

Q

Qualtrics

Survey software used to design, send and analyze surveys online. Used for collecting feedback at scale whether that’s a simple questionnaire or a detailed study such as customer or employee feedback as part of a more structured experience management program.

R

Resolution

Simply put, resolution is the amount of pixels on the screen in one horizontal row and one vertical column. It's how computers and displays agree to what an image looks like on screen.

REST data service

REST-compliant web services allow the requesting systems to access and manipulate textual representations of web resources by using a uniform and predefined set of stateless operations.

REST service

REST-compliant web services allow the requesting systems to access and manipulate textual representations of web resources by using a uniform and predefined set of stateless operations.

S

SP

Strategic Partner. These individuals support designated Wharton faculty, staff or students, and act as their advocate in IT decision making.

W

web service

A web service commonly provides an object-oriented web-based interface to a database server, utilized for example by another web server, or by a mobile app, that provides a user interface to the end user.