1.6 Glossary of terms

SNA System:SNA stands for Social Network Analysis. An SNA system is a software system that allows one to analyse the workings of a social network in greater detail.

API: API stands for Application Programming Interface. This is a special service or library that can be integrated within a user interface or plug-in, which can access (in our case) the data from the graph database.

Graph database:Unlike a relational database that stores objects and defines relations through the use of keys, a Graph database stores the actual relationship as well. This database is therefore especially suited to answer queries that do not only involve the object, but also its relationships.

Sequence diagram: In standard UML, a sequence diagram is used to represent the method calls between certain system components. In this case, we used the sequence diagram to show at a more abstract level what the flow of the system should be.

UML: UML stands for Unified Modelling Language, a language used as a standard for creating diagrams and models that represent software systems.

Versioning tools:Versioning tools are tools used by software developers to keep track of item versions. Each time a developer wishes to update a line of code in some file and commits this change through the versioning tool, the tool will assign a higher version to the modified item and will keep track of any changes made to the item.

Project management tools: Project management tools are used to keep track of the current status of a project team. It lists TO-DO items, features a planning mechanism and some form of reporting for superiors.

Bug tracking tools:A bug tracking tool is used to keep track of bugs found in a system or code file. Using a bug tracker, a development team can keep track of the files that cause the most problems and which bugs are repeating in occurrence. Therefore, it will become easier for the team to fix these bugs in the future.

Bug:A complication within a software system that causes unwanted or unexpected system behaviour.

Communication tools: Tools used to facilitate documentation. For example: Outlook (for e-mail), Lync or IRC (For instant messaging).

Active Directory: Active Directory, or AD for short, handles Windows user authentication when implemented on a server (which is the case for Previous). When a user logs into a computer using an account from the AD, that user can instantly access any tools that implement AD as their log-in module, given they have the correct rights to access these tools.