Glossary and References

Last updated on 2026-06-22 | Edit this page

Glossary

Agile
A family of iterative software development methodologies that respond to change, favoring working software and close collaboration over heavy upfront planning.
Backlog
The prioritized list of all work (features, user stories, bugs) remaining on a project.
Backlog grooming
Periodic review of the backlog to refine, re-prioritize, and remove items that are no longer relevant.
Definition of Done
A shared, agreed-upon checklist of what must be true for a piece of work to count as complete (e.g., coded, tested, reviewed, documented).
Epic
A large feature that spans multiple sprints; it is broken down into smaller user stories.
Kanban
A lightweight Agile method that visualizes work as cards moving through columns (e.g., “To Do”, “In Progress”, “Done”) in a continuous flow.
Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
The smallest release that delivers real value and can be used and evaluated.
MoSCoW
A prioritization technique sorting work into Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won’t have.
Product Owner
The Scrum role that owns the product vision and prioritizes the backlog, representing the customer.
Requirements churn
Repeated, costly changes to requirements during development.
Retrospective
A meeting at the end of a sprint where the team reflects on what went well and what to improve.
Roadmap
A planned series of releases mapping backlog features to future delivery points.
Scrum
A widely used Agile framework that organizes work into fixed-length sprints with defined roles and ceremonies.
Scrum Master
The Scrum role responsible for facilitating the process and removing blockers for the team.
Scrumban
A hybrid approach combining Scrum’s cadence with Kanban’s flexible, visual flow.
Sprint
A time-boxed development iteration (typically 1–4 weeks) producing a potentially shippable increment.
Standup
A short (~15 min) daily meeting where the team shares progress, plans, and blockers.
Story points
A relative, abstract measure of the effort/complexity of a piece of work, used for estimation.
User story
A short description of a feature from a user’s perspective, e.g., “As a user, I can view my data.”
Waterfall
A sequential methodology where each phase (requirements, design, implementation, verification, maintenance) is completed before the next begins.

References and Further Reading