Glossary of Terms

The English in the USA (American English, US English, encoded as en-US) is the English language as it is used in the United States. (Wikipedia)

A way for two or more computer programs or components to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build or use such a connection or interface is called an 'API specification'. (Wikipedia)

A character encoding standard for representing a particular set of 95 (English language focused) printable and 33 control characters – a total of 128 code points. The set of available punctuation had significant impact on the syntax of computer languages and text markup. ASCII hugely influenced the design of character sets used by modern computers; for example, the first 128 code points of Unicode are the same as ASCII. (Wikipedia)

A client/server gaming architecture refers to a typical distributed architecture for the support of networked games. In this architecture, a single node plays the role of the server, i.e., it maintains the game state and communicates with all other nodes (the clients). The server notifies game moves generated by players and computes the game state updates. (ECGG, p. 319)

The game this document is written for; DGA stands for 'Distant Ground Attack'.

XML stands for 'Extensible Markup Language' (often miscapitalized as 'eXtensible Markup Language' to justify the acronym). XML is a set of rules for defining semantic tags that break a document into parts and identify the different parts of the document. It is a meta-markup language that defines a syntax in which other domain-specific markup languages can be written. (XMLB, p. 3)
XML is a subset of SGML. Its goal is to enable generic SGML to be served, received, and processed on the Web in the way that is now possible with HTML. XML has been designed for ease of implementation and for interoperability with both SGML and HTML. (XMLS)

A systemic experience that takes place in its own context, separated from the rest of life (the game’s magic circle). Every game is characterised by the following attributes:

An iterative systemic process between designing the parts, the loops, and the whole of a game. Nowadays, the term 'game design' is used synonymously to 'video game design' unless explicitly stated otherwise, since the current game market is dominated by digital media. (AGDS, p. 177)

A playful experience that is communicated to a player as an emergent effect of structural, functional, architectural, and thematic elements of a game. (AGDS, p. 97)

A standard application-level protocol used for exchanging files on the World Wide Web. HTTP runs on top of the TCP/IP protocol and (later) on the QUIC protocol. Web browsers are HTTP clients that send file requests to Web servers, which in turn handle the requests via an HTTP service. HTTP was originally proposed in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee, who was a coauthor of the 1.0 specification. HTTP/1.0 (released in 1996) was 'stateless': each new request from a client established a new connection instead of handling all similar requests through the same connection between a specific client and server. HTTP/1.1 (released in 1997) includes persistent connections, decompression of HTML files by client browsers, and multiple domain names sharing the same IP address. HTTP/2 (released in 2015) was designed to solve problems with slow page loading and was a binary protocol in which binary values were used instead of plaintext as in previous versions. HTTP/3 relies on the faster QUIC protocol instead of TCP and, as of early 2022, was not yet released in final form but was supported by most browsers. In the 2010s many websites began using HTTPS (Secure HTTP), developed in 1994 by Netscape Communications Corporation and in which the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) protocol was added to HTTP to provide a layer of encryption between browsers and servers. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

An extension of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It uses encryption for secure communication over a computer network, and is widely used on the Internet. In HTTPS, the communication protocol is encrypted using Transport Layer Security (TLS) or, formerly, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). The protocol is therefore also referred to as HTTP over TLS, or HTTP over SSL. (Wikipedia)

A link between related pieces of information by electronic connections in order to allow a user easy access between them. Hyperlinks between different parts of a document or between different documents create a branching or network structure that can accommodate direct, unmediated jumps to pieces of related information. The treelike structure of hyperlinked information contrasts with the linear structure of a print encyclopaedia or dictionary, for example, whose contents can be physically accessed only by means of a static, linear sequence of entries in alphabetical order. Hyperlinks are, in a sense, cross-references that afford instant access to their target pieces of information. Such links are most effective when used on a large array of information that is organized into many smaller, related pieces and when the user requires only a small portion of information at any one time. Hyperlinks have been used most successfully by Web sites on the Internet. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

A hyperlink involving text is a feature of some computer programs that allow the user of electronic media to select a word from text and receive additional information pertaining to that word, such as a definition or related references within the text. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

A formatting system for displaying material retrieved over the Internet. Each retrieval unit is known as a Web page (from World Wide Web), and such pages frequently contain hypertext links that allow related pages to be retrieved. HTML is the markup language for encoding Web pages. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of synchronous computer-mediated communication involving the immediate (real-time) transmission of messages between two or more parties over the Internet or another computer network. Originally involving simple text message exchanges, modern IM applications and services (also called "social messengers", "messaging apps", "chat apps" or "chat clients") tend to also feature the exchange of multimedia, emojis, file transfer, VoIP (voice calling), and video chat capabilities. (Wikipedia)

Often abbreviated as i18n, internationalisation is the process of designing a software application so that it can be adapted to various languages and regions without engineering changes. (Wikipedia)

A system architecture that has revolutionized mass communication, mass media, and commerce by allowing various computer networks around the world to interconnect. Sometimes referred to as a 'network of networks'. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

A standards organization, which develops open standards through transparent processes with one goal in mind: to make the Internet work better. A large international community of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers, the IETF focuses on the evolution of the Internet architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet. The Internet Society and the IETF have long been aligned on the advocacy of multistakeholder processes and open standards. Since 1992, The Internet Society have supported the IETF by providing a corporate home for the IETF LLC — the administrative entity of the IETF — and through annual financial contributions. (The Internet Engineering Task Force)

A protocol for live text-based Internet chat. It functions on a client-server model where individual users (clients) connect to a chat network via an IRC server. Initially, IRC was one of the first protocols to offer a decentralized architecture, with different servers interconnected to form a network. Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is defined in RFC 1459. (Network Encyclopedia)

Jakarta EE (formerly known as Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) and Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE)) is a set of specifications, extending Java Standard Edition with specifications for enterprise features such as distributed computing and web services. Jakarta EE applications are run on reference runtime implementations, represented by microservices or application servers, which handle transactions, security, scalability, concurrency and management of the components they are deploying.
Java EE Platform was initially developed by Sun Microsystems, later maintained by Oracle Corporation under the Java Community Process (JCP), and finally on 12 September 2017 submitted to the Eclipse Foundation. In 2018, Java EE Platform was renamed to Jakarta EE Platform.
Jakarta EE is defined by its specifications, which comprises APIs and their interactions software providers must meet in order to declare their products as 'Jakarta EE compliant'. (Jakarta EE at Eclipse Foundation)

A distribution of the Java Platform, which implements the Java Language Specification (JLS) and the Java Virtual Machine Specification (JVMS), and provides the Standard Edition (SE) of the Java Application Programming Interface (API).

Java Platform is a set of computer software and specifications that provides a software platform for developing application software and deploying it in a cross-platform computing environment. Java Platform is used in a wide variety of computing platforms from embedded devices and mobile phones to enterprise servers and supercomputers. (Java Platform’s Home)
Java Platform also comprises a suite of programs that facilitate developing and running programs written in the Java™ Programming Language. A Java Platform’s implementation includes an execution engine (called a Java Virtual Machine), a compiler and a set of libraries (called a Java Development Kit); there may also be additional servers and alternative libraries that depend on the requirements. The Java Platform’s implementations have been developed for a wide variety of hardware and operating systems with a view to enable Java programs to run identically on all of them.
Java Platform consists of several parts intended for different classes of device and application domains:

A computing platform for development and deployment of portable code for desktop and server environments. The platform uses the Java™ Programming Language and is part of the Java Platform. Java SE defines a range of general-purpose APIs – such as Java APIs for the Java Class Library – and also includes the Java Language Specification and the Java Virtual Machine Specification. OpenJDK is the official reference implementation at the present time. (Java Platform’s Home)

Java is a high-level, class-based, object-oriented, general-purpose programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems. Compiled Java code can run on all platforms that support Java without the need to be recompiled. It means that software applications written on Java are typically compiled to bytecode that can run on any Java Virtual Machine (JVM) regardless of the underlying computer architecture. Java has a complete language specification, which was firstly published in 1996 and remains updated until nowadays. (Java™ Programming Language Documentation)

A virtual machine that enables a computer to run Java programs as well as programs written in other languages that are also compiled to Java bytecode. The JVM is detailed by a specification that formally describes what is required in a JVM implementation. (Java Platform’s Home)

Often abbreviated as l10n, localisation is the process of adapting internationalised software for a specific region or language by translating text and adding locale-specific components. Localisation (which is potentially performed multiple times, for different locales) uses the infrastructure or flexibility provided by internationalisation (which is ideally performed only once before localisation, or as an integral part of ongoing development). (Wikipedia)

A standard text-encoding system consisting of a set of symbols inserted in a text document to control its structure, formatting, or the relationship between its parts. The most widely used markup languages are SGML, HTML, and XML. The markup symbols can be interpreted by a device (computer, printer, browser, etc.) to control how a document should look when printed or displayed on a monitor. A marked-up document thus contains two types of text: text to be displayed and markup language on how to display it. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

A multiplayer game, which is especially designed to be played online simultaneously by a large number of players and has complex gameplay, network capabilities, virtual economy, etc. (ECGG, p. 596) (See our convention on this term)

In semantics and philosophy, a language used for the analysis of object language (language that is used to talk about objects in the world). Thus, a metalanguage may be thought of as a language about another language. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

A game that is designed for multiplayer mode where two or more players are expected throughout the entire gameplay. (ECGG, p. 596)

A type of technical documents issued by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) that describes specifications, procedures, and standards in given Internet technologies. RFCs are available free of charge to anyone via the Internet. RFCs have been published continually since 1969. (The Internet Engineering Task Force)

A networking protocol that secures connections between web clients and web servers over internal networks or the Internet by encrypting the data sent between those clients and servers. Part of SSL’s significance lies in the fact that it was the first widely used and broadly implemented network protocol to enable cryptographically secured communications between client and server systems. SSL uses public key and private key encryption and other cryptographic functions to secure connections between devices communicating over a TCP/IP network. SSL can scramble clear text (plaintext) entered on a website using asymmetric cryptography and public key encryption. It is just one of the ways in which public key infrastructure (PKI) is used by modern businesses. SSL was mainly used to secure connections between web clients and web servers to secure communications between them and to ensure their privacy. Without SSL, data sent to and from a website could be intercepted and easily read. (TechTarget)

The International System of Units, universally known as the SI (from the French Système international d’unités), for which the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) has responsibility. The SI is a consistent system of units for use in all aspects of life, including international trade, manufacturing, security, health and safety, protection of the environment, and in the basic science that underpins all of these. The system of quantities underlying the SI and the equations relating them are based on the present description of nature and are familiar to all scientists, technologists and engineers. (SIB, p. 125)

An international standard for the definition of markup languages; that is, it is a metalanguage. Markup consists of notations called tags that specify the function of a piece of text or how it is to be displayed. SGML emphasizes descriptive markup, in which a tag might be '<emphasis>'. Such a markup denotes the document function, and it could be interpreted as reverse video on a computer screen, underlining by a typewriter, or italics in typeset text. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

From the bottom-up view, a system is a set of parts that together form loops of interaction between them to create a persistent 'whole'. The whole has its own properties and behaviors belonging to the group but not to any single part within it. (AGDS, p. 50)
From the top-down view, a system is the integrated whole that arises out of independent, interacting parts. Those parts have their own internal state, boundaries, and behaviors by which they mutually affect each other. This whole persists over time, adapts to external conditions, and has its own coordinated behaviors that emerge from the interactions of its parts. The system can both contain lower-level subsystems within it and be itself part of a higher-level supersystem. (AGDS, p. 86)

The project, which stands behind the DGA Game. The FLEISS Software Foundation is a non-profit established to advance development of Free/Libre and Open Source Software of enterprise quality and to extend its usage in everyday life. The word 'FLEISS' stands for 'Free/Libre Enterprise Information Software System'. The preferred English pronunciation is ['fleis], but ['flais] is also acceptable. In the German language the word 'Fleiß m.' (Fleiss m.) means 'diligence, industriousness, studiousness'. (The Cambridge Dictionary)

A security protocol, which allows client/server applications to communicate over the Internet in a way that is designed to prevent eavesdropping, tampering, and message forgery. The protocol is widely used in applications such as email, instant messaging, and voice over IP, but its use in securing HTTPS remains the most publicly visible. (The Internet Engineering Task Force)

A network protocol, which enables two-way communication between a client running untrusted code in a controlled environment to a remote host that has opted-in to communications from that code. The security model used for this is the origin-based security model commonly used by web browsers. The protocol consists of an opening handshake followed by basic message framing, layered over TCP. The goal of this technology is to provide a mechanism for browser-based applications that need two-way communication with servers that does not rely on opening multiple HTTP connections (e.g., using XMLHttpRequest or <iframe>s and long polling). In December 2011, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standardized the protocol in RFC 6455. (The Internet Engineering Task Force)

The leading information retrieval service of the Internet (the worldwide computer network). The Web gives users access to a vast array of mass media and content — via the deep web, the dark web, and the commonly accessible surface web — that is connected by means of hypertext or hypermedia links — i.e., hyperlinks, electronic connections that link related pieces of information in order to allow a user easy access to them. Hypertext allows the user to select a word or phrase from text and thereby access other documents that contain additional information pertaining to that word or phrase. Hypermedia documents feature links to images, sounds, animations, and movies. The Web operates within the Internet’s basic client-server format; servers are computer programs that store and transmit documents to other computers on the network when asked to, while clients are programs that request documents from a server as the user asks for them. Browser software allows users to view the retrieved documents. Special browsers and platforms such as Tor allow users to do so anonymously. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

A network protocol that extends the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) and provides additional building blocks for XMPP-based applications. (The XMPP Standards Foundation)

XMPP is the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol, a set of open technologies for instant messaging, presence, multi-party chat, voice and video calls, collaboration, lightweight middleware, content syndication, and generalised routing of XML data. XMPP was originally developed in the Jabber open-source community to provide an open, decentralised alternative to the closed instant messaging services at that time. XMPP has the following advantages such as openness, standardness, provenness, decentralisation, security, extensibility, flexibility, diversity. (The XMPP Standards Foundation)
The terms 'Jabber' and 'XMPP' are often used interchangeably. These technologies were originally developed by Jeremie Miller and the Jabber open source community in 1998–1999. When the community submitted its core protocols to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in 2002, it chose the name 'Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol' to distinguish the protocol from the broader technology and developer community. This relationship could be described as 'XMPP is to Jabber as HTTP is to the Web'. The term Jabber was proactively trademarked by Jabber, Inc. (now part of Cisco Systems, Inc.) in 2000 to protect the open source community, but the XSF sublicenses the term for use in open source projects and other community activities. (XTDG, p. xiii)

The XMPP Standards Foundation (also known as the XSF and formerly the Jabber Software Foundation) is an independent, nonprofit standards development organisation whose primary mission is to define open protocols for presence, instant messaging, and real-time communication and collaboration on top of the IETF’s Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). The XSF also provides information and infrastructure to the worldwide community of Jabber/XMPP developers, service providers, and end users. In addition, the XSF administers the Jabber Trademark Licensing Program. (The XMPP Standards Foundation)