Definitions

This section contains definitions for commonly used terms throughout this wiki. Feel free to Ctrl+F to find the specific term you're looking for. If you can't find it, feel free to email me to clarify.

###General

####Root Directory/Web Root

The top-level directory, or folder, where your files are stored. In the case of a web root, this is the first folder you get to upon opening your project folder. In THINKer demonstrations, the 'thon-thinker' folder is considered the root, as all of the application files are contained inside of it.

###THINKer Specific

####Application

An instance of a site built with THINKer. You can have multiple sites hosted on a single instance of THINKer, but this is only recommended in few circumstances.

####Section

Another word used for 'Controller'. These are the top-level categories of places on the site, like 'OrgManagement'.

####Sub-section

Methods within a section that do work to determine what data should be presented to a user. You can think of them like individual HTML pages (even though they aren't), but they're the more specific part of a user's request that tells where they want to go.

###Programming

####Class

Generally, a computer's representation of a real-world object. Classes are more blueprints, as they contains properties and methods that describe what that object is and how it does certain tasks.

Classes don't always have to be real-world objects, as they're also used to group similar functionality to aid an application in something called a Library.

####Interface

A sort of contract that tells a class certain methods that it must implement. This helps in the lower-level bits of a program, as I can be guaranteed that when I call a method defined in an interface that is implemented in a class, it will actually exist.

####Library

A collection of functions which serve some sort of utility purpose, which means that many times, you can write less code by using them. For example, a Google Maps library would contain functions that already know how to access the Google Maps API; all you would need to do is input the address you're looking for into a 'map()' function and it does the rest.

####Method

A function declared within a class.

####Object

An instantiated, or created, class. The completed product of your blueprint.

####Property/Properties

A variable declared within a class. Note that a property is NOT a variable that's declared within a class's methods, rather, it is declared outside of them.

###Web Development

####Model-View-Controller (MVC)

A design pattern commonly used in web development that emphasizes a separation of concerns, allowing each part of the application to function independently, but all pieces come together to form the application.

####Controller

A layer of the MVC design pattern. The controller ties the View and Models together by handling inputs and passing back data to the View layer, usually by loading Models or calling methods within itself to do some sort of work.

####Model

A layer of the MVC design pattern. See 'Object' and 'Class'.

####View

A layer of the MVC design pattern. The view is the presentation layer of the application that actually produces the final output.