- This is part of a broader quality framework
- This guidance has been co-authored with the NHS Digital EMBRACE network and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Allies (LGBTQ+) network
The language and terminology we use is important, and there are certain industry-standard terms which cause hurt and offence. Furthermore, the 'old' standard terms use arbitrary language, for example replacing White / Black with terms such as Allow / Deny or Permit / Block removes ambiguity and delivers a better experience for all users.
In line with organisations such as the Home Office and the National Cyber Security Centre, we recognise that historically we have used these terms, and we will strive to avoid using these terms in the future.
| Context | Term we will avoid | Terms we will use instead (suggested) |
|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure (e.g. databases) | Master | Primary |
| Infrastructure (e.g. databases) | Slave | Replica / Secondary / Worker / Agent |
| Source control | Master | Main (see below for GitHub notes) |
| Security / permissions | Whitelist | Allowlist / Permitlist |
| Security / permissions | Blacklist | Denylist / Blocklist |
Note: this is not intended to be an exhaustive list, and further suggestions are very welcome.
GitHub have published guidance around renaming the master branch. It is worth noting that GitHub retains a history of the names of the parent branch so that existing links to your repository aren't broken - for example the parent branch in this repository has been renamed from master to main, but old links to the master address still work (https://github.com/NHSDigital/software-engineering-quality-framework/blob/master/README.md) and are automatically redirected to the main branch.
In addition to the guidance from GitHub, developers will need to update local copies of a repository if the "master" branch is renamed - this example is for a renaming from master to main:
git branch -m master main
git fetch origin
git branch -u origin/main main
git remote set-head origin -a