# PSA: Glossary for beginners (WIP)
**URL:** https://discourse.julialang.org/t/psa-glossary-for-beginners-wip/50340
**Category:** New to Julia
**Tags:** psa
**Created:** [November 17, 2020, 10:53pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/psa-glossary-for-beginners-wip/50340 "2020-11-17T22:53:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@miguelraz](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/miguelraz)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 10:53pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/psa-glossary-for-beginners-wip/50340/1 "2020-11-17T22:53:39Z")
Hello, I have started this document as a handy glossary to point to for beginners. Generally intended for English as a Second Language Speakers or new users of online forums and the Julia Community in general.
Suggestions are welcome ~~as a pull request!~~
[https://github.com/miguelraz/StartHere.jl](https://github.com/miguelraz/StartHere.jl)
| Terms | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| foo / bar / bazz | These terms are used to give an example of what is being discussed, and the names don’t actually mater. For example, `foo(bar.txt)` means that there is some function that will be called on a text file, but the names don’t really matter at the moment. |
| AFAIK | As Far As I Know |
| MWE | Minimum Working Example. [A piece of code to reproduce your problem on someone else’s machine](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/psa-make-it-easier-to-help-you/) . |
| LGTM | Looks Good To Me |
| YMMV | Your Mileage May Vary, an abbrevaited way to say “Your experience may be different than mine”. |
| IIUC | If I Understand Correclty |
| AFAIK | As Far As I Know |
| IANAL | I Am Not A Lawyer |
| PR | Pull Request (see Git) |
| REPL | Read Evaluate Print Loop, also known as that terminal / dark window when you open up Julia for the first time. Very useful for experimenting with you Julia codes. |
| TIL | Today I Learned |
| GC | Garbage Collector. An algorithm that helps manage the memory needed for Julia to run. |
| LLVM | Julia’s compiler |
| GSOC | Google Summer of Code. Happens once a year in June - August. Google pays students to code in Julia |
| COC | Julia’s Code of Conduct. |
| Slack | An online chatting forum that permits talking in different #channels, with emojis and some code formatting. Messages get auto deleted after a while. |
| Discourse | This forum. Usually suited towards longer form discussions. |
| Zulip | An online chatting forum like Slack, but open source, and permanent history. |
| GitHub / issue tags | A web page where most of Julia codes are freely hosted. People usually discuss code designs and submit Pull Requests here. |
| Meetups | When Julians meet each other in person. Usually location based with some scheduling. See the calendar for your local ones |
| Triage | A call with Julia devs who focus on internal issues of how Julia works. Open to all, heavy technical knowledge. |
| Community Calendar | A place where meetups, calls, conventions and other Julia-related events are announced. [Link is here](https://julialang.org/community/#events) |
| JuliaCon | A once a year conference that happens somewhere in the world. People present posters, presentations and share their code. Almost all material is easily accessible on [youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAxzR7lMGDM&t=3s). |
| Ship it! | A phrase to publish some code, usually with some bravery. |
| | |
| #general | A chatting channel on Slack/Zulip where things of general Julia interest are discussed. |
| #random | A chatting channel on Slack/Zulip where things are more casual and people post about random things, like the latest computer chips or a cool new video gets shared |
| #helpdesk | A place where you can ask even the most basic questions about working with Julia and volunteers will try to help. Very useful to read [how to get help](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/psa-make-it-easier-to-help-you/) before. Also consider that people do this for free, so please be kind. |
| #community | A channel to coordinate community events like meetups, conferences, etc. |
| #diversity | A place to discuss efforts towards the inclusion of marginalized people within the Julia community |
| Moderator | Moderator here on Discourse. People who help keep spam away and interactions friendly and productive. |
| Steward | Julia long time community members who take actions about faults with the CoC by community members. Not their day job, not their favorite job, not a thankful job. |
| bump (an issue) | To recomment on a github issue or topic so that it gains attention again. Usually well intentioned if someone committed to working on the code and hasn’t reported back in a while and it would be useful to know the current status of it. |
| ping | To mention someone like @this so that they get a notification. |
| necroposting | To find a post in a forum like Discourse that hasn’t been touched upon in quite a while and try to restart the conversation. Usually not seen in a positive light, some topics need to be moved on from. |
---
### Author:  [@rdeits](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/rdeits)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 11:05pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/psa-glossary-for-beginners-wip/50340/2 "2020-11-17T23:05:36Z")
Good idea!
> [@miguelraz](#):
>
> Your Mileage May Vary
It’s probably useful to explain what this means, since it’s not at all obvious unless you’ve watched car commercials about fuel economy (perhaps only in the United States, too?). Perhaps:
> Your Mileage May Vary: Your experience may be different than mine
---
### Author:  [@dpsanders](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/dpsanders)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 11:06pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/psa-glossary-for-beginners-wip/50340/3 "2020-11-17T23:06:26Z")
This is great! One thing I notice that is missing is the recursive PSA 😉
---
### Author:  [@miguelraz](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/miguelraz)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 11:07pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/psa-glossary-for-beginners-wip/50340/4 "2020-11-17T23:07:38Z")
I thought I had that under the #helpdesk explainer but I may as well move it up to the MWE one.
---
### Author:  [@dpsanders](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/dpsanders)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 11:09pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/psa-glossary-for-beginners-wip/50340/5 "2020-11-17T23:09:36Z")
Maybe the acronyms should be in alphabetical order.
---
### Author:  [@miguelraz](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/miguelraz)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 11:15pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/psa-glossary-for-beginners-wip/50340/6 "2020-11-17T23:15:25Z")
Yeah, but editing this markdown table is infernal right now and I think I will leave it for later.
---
### Author:  [@miguelraz](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/miguelraz)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 11:17pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/psa-glossary-for-beginners-wip/50340/7 "2020-11-17T23:17:34Z")
Good call. Updated.
---
### Author:  [@JeffreySarnoff](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/JeffreySarnoff)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2020, 12:24am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/psa-glossary-for-beginners-wip/50340/8 "2020-11-18T00:24:14Z")
fwiw these acronyms usually appear written in lowercase
(and “fwiw” for what it’s worth)
---
### Author:  [@miguelraz](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/miguelraz)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2020, 12:28am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/psa-glossary-for-beginners-wip/50340/9 "2020-11-18T00:28:24Z")
Might as well get it started with a “My-first-PR” feel.
[https://github.com/miguelraz/StartHere.jl/issues/1](https://github.com/miguelraz/StartHere.jl/issues/1)
---
### Author:  [@yashi](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/yashi)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2022, 1:52am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/psa-glossary-for-beginners-wip/50340/10 "2022-05-19T01:52:24Z")
PSA = Public Service Announcement
---
### Author:  [@jd-foster](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jd-foster)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2022, 2:28am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/psa-glossary-for-beginners-wip/50340/11 "2022-05-19T02:28:23Z")
> [@dpsanders](#):
>
> This is great! One thing I notice that is missing is the recursive PSA 😉
Also:
> [@miguelraz](#):
>
> necroposting
but welcome IMHO 😄 ; this should be posted somewhere prominent.