New IT Jargon

IT is a complex, constantly evolving world where it's rather difficoult for someone with an average brain to keep up with just a small part of the many things one can find interesting. What is quite simple (and sometimes can be pretty helpful) is keeping up with the new vocabulary. When I say helpful, I mean that knowing to name a few of the last cool IT things can make you look smarter than you are (but notice that some managers can consider that knowing what an Acronym stands for is right the same as being an expert on it, so it can end up causing you some trouble).

In the last weeks I've come across with some names/acronyms that can help you look cool :-D

• NoSQL is one of the most misleading terms of the last years. OK, NoSQL stores do not use SQL, but that's not the real point, the real point is that those Data Stores are not based on the Relational Model we find in RDBMS's. So when I read somewhere that some people had started to use the term NoRel I immediately loved it.
• Polyglot Persistence. When I first knew about the term polyglot programming I really liked it, it was a fast way to define what the programming world had evolved into, it's no longer enough to be proficient in one language/platform and blindly choose it for all your projects. I guess with Polyglot Persistence it's going to be right the same.
• BASE. The counterpart to ACID in a NoRel world.
• MEAN. I think it's been some years since the last time I heard about LAMP, and suddenly a modern, geek incarnation of that web stack is here: MongoDB, Express, AngularJS and Node. I'm almost certain I'll never use this combination. I love Node (but mainly as a scripting platform or just as a way to test JavaScript "proofs of concept") and I'm looking forward to have some time to play with Mongo and AngularJS, but I don't see myself doing any personal Web Development project, and in most companies the LOB (Line of Business) web applications are and will continue to be Java or .Net.
• MVW. Probably you're a bit fed up of having to stop to think about the distinction among MVC, MVP, MVVM... to explain someone which one (or variation of which one) you're using. Saying "I'm using Model View Whatever" can come really handy to spare you time in fruitless debates.
• Hoisting. In JavaScript variables declarations (but not initializations) are hoisted (that is, moved to the top). Function declaration (not function expressions) are also hoisted.
• IIEF. If you've been into JavaScript development in the last years is pretty likely that you've done some use of them, but chances are that you don't know their name: IIFE (Immediately Invoked Function Expression), I mean:

  (function () {  // open IIFE
                  var tmp = 100 - x;
                  ...
              }());