Word List
This page includes a list of commonly used acronyms and words, some of which we should avoid.
Acronyms and words play an important role in how readers comprehend documentation. To improve readability and avoid confusion, be sure to use acronyms and words correctly and in the appropriate context.
- Be sure to spell out acronyms on first mention (unless otherwise noted in the definition). On subsequent mentions, you can use the acronym.
- Don't spell out acronyms in titles, headings, or space-constrained areas, like tables and images. However, be sure to spell out the acronym in the body of the text on first mention.
- For words and phrases not in this list, see The American Heritage Dictionary.
2PC
two-phase commit
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
ACID
atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability
No need to spell out this acronym on first mention.
BFD
Bidirectional Forwarding Detection
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
Don't use BFD as an acronym for Byzantine fault detection.
Byzantine fault detection
Don't use the acronym BFD when referring to Byzantine fault detection.
cluster
Use the phrase in a cluster when referring to working in a cluster environment.
Example: Before deploying an application in a cluster, be sure to check the status of the nodes in the cluster.
CRUD
create, read, update, and delete
No need to spell out this acronym on first mention.
etc.
Avoid. Be as specific as possible instead of using "etc." or delete it.
"etc." is OK to use in space-constrained areas, like diagrams and tables.
ETL
extract, transform, load
No need to spell out this acronym on first mention.
fat JAR
Lowercase "fat". No need to spell out the acronym on first mention.
FDW
foreign data wrapper
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
FQDN
fully qualified domain name
No need to spell out this acronym on first mention.
gRPC
Google remote procedure call
No need to spell out this acronym on first mention.
HTAP
hybrid transactional/analytical processing
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
JAR
No need to spell out this acronym on first mention.
JVM
Java virtual machine
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
K3s
Official name of the lightweight Kubernetes solution.
K8s
Kubernetes
Don't use this abbreviation in documentation.
log in, login, log out, logout, sign on, signon, sign off, signoff
Don't use log in, login, log out, logout, sign on, signon, sign off, or signoff unless you are referring to the name of a UI element, product name, or industry-standard feature.
LWT
lightweight transaction
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
microservice architecture
A collection of loosely coupled, fine-grained services that communicate by using lightweight protocols.
node group
Use the phrase node group when referring to a collection of nodes in Amazon EKS.
Reference: Managed node groups
node pool
Use the phrase node pool when referring to a collection of nodes in Microsoft AKS.
Reference: Create and manage multiple node pools for a cluster in Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
OLAP
online analytical processing
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
OLTP
online transaction processing
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
OS
operating system
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
Avoid making this acronym plural.
OSS
open-source software
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
Avoid making this acronym plural.
PAYG
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
please
Use only when the user is asked to do something unexpected or inconvenient, for example, if they need to visit another document to continue with a procedure.
RCSI
read-committed snapshot isolation
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
RCU
read capacity unit
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
RPC
remote procedure call
No need to spell out this acronym on first mention.
RU
Request Units
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
S2PL
strict two-phase locking
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
should
Use for recommended actions or when anticipating a situation.
SI
systems integrator or snapshot isolation
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
If both spelled-out acronyms are used in a document or on a page, use the acronym for the first spelled-out acronym shown above and consistently spell out the second spelled-out acronym shown above.
SLF4J
Simple Logging Facade for Java
No need to spell out this acronym on first mention.
SQL
Structured Query Language
No need to spell out this acronym on first mention. Pronounced sequel.
SSI
Serializable Snapshot Isolation
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
If the acronym SI is already used in the same document, spell out the acronym as serializable SI on first mention. On subsequent mentions, use the acronym SSI.
sign in, sign out
Use sign in to describe starting a session that requires entering a username and password.
Use sign out to describe ending a session that required entering a username and password.
Don't use log in, login, log out, logout, sign on, signon, sign off, or signoff unless you are referring to the name of a UI element, product name, or industry-standard feature.
strict serializability
Lowercase.
strict serializable isolation
Lowercase.
strict serializable transactions
Lowercase.
TPC
Transaction Processing Performance Council Benchmark
No need to spell out any TPC-related acronyms on first mention. However, be sure to include sufficient context when using this acronym.
TxID
transaction ID
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
UI
No need to spell out this acronym on first mention.
UUID
Universally Unique IDentifier
No need to spell out this acronym on first mention.
VNet
virtual network
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
When referring to the Microsoft service offering, be sure to capitalize the acronym on first mention as Azure Virtual Network. Then, refer to the service as VNet on subsequent mentions.
VPC
virtual private cloud
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
When referring to the Amazon service offering, be sure to capitalize the acronym on first mention as Amazon Virtual Private Cloud. Then, refer to the service as VPC on subsequent mentions.
WAL
write-ahead logging
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
WCU
write capacity unit
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.
YCSB
Yahoo! Cloud Serving Benchmark
On first mention, spell out the acronym, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Lowercase the spelled-out term.
On subsequent mentions within the same document or page, use the acronym.