| allocator | An allocator is a data structure that encapsulates memory management and performs memory allocations and deallocations. | Programming |
| batching | A technique where many draw calls are combined into fewer draw calls. | Graphics |
| big-endian architecture | Architecture used by the PowerPC CPU. In a big-endian system, the most-significant portion of the value is stored in the lowest memory storage address. | System |
| binary | A binary file is a file stored in binary format. It is computer-readable but not human-readable. | System |
| control | In UI, any object that users can interact with. | UI |
| culling | Back-face culling determines whether a polygon of a graphical object is visible. | Graphics |
| dependency injection | A technique where one object supplies the dependencies of another object. | Programming |
| depth buffer (z-buffer) | Memory buffer that contains the depth (distance from the camera) information for a given frame on the video display. | Graphics |
| Direct3D | Microsoft Direct3D is a 3D graphic API for Windows and Xbox systems. | Graphics |
| DirectX | Microsoft DirectX is a set of APIs for accessing hardware features related to game and multimedia applications. | System |
| draw call | Submission of geometry to the GPU for rendering. | Graphics |
| dynamic allocation | A dynamic allocation of memory occurs at run-time. | System |
| endianness | Endian order (or byte order) refers to the way that larger-than-byte data types are stored in memory (little-endian or big-endian). | System |
| fill rate | The number of pixels that a graphic card can render and write to video memory per second. | Graphics |
| frame buffer | Memory buffer that contains the color data for a given frame on the video display. | Graphics |
| geometry instancing | A technique to render multiple copies of the same mesh in a single draw call. | Graphics |
| heightmap | A heightmap is a texture where pixels have a specific meaning instead of representing color. One common usage of heightmap is to store surface elevation data. | Graphics |
| intrinsic function | An compiler-optimized function often mapped to a CPU operation. Often used for vectorization and parallelization. | System |
| introspection | The ability of a program to examine the type of an object at run-time. | Programming |
| keyframe | A frame on a timeline where an object's state can be explicitly set. | Animation |
| layer | In 2D, ordered elements that can be grouped, stacked, and rearranged. | Graphics |
| letterboxing | A technique where black bars are placed at the top and bottom of a screen image. | Graphics |
| little-endian architecture | Architecture used by the x86 CPU. In a little-endian system, the least-significant portion of the value is stored in the lowest memory storage address. | System |
| Metal | A low-level, low-overhead 3D graphic and computing API developed by Apple for macOS and iOS. | Graphics |
| normalized | In mathematics, a normalized vector is multiplied by a constant factor. | Mathematics |
| OpenGL | Open Graphics Library is a cross-language, cross-platform API for rendering 3D graphics. | Graphics |
| orthogonal | In mathematics, orthogonal vectors are mutually perpendicular. | Mathematics |
| orthonormal | In mathematics, both orthogonal and normalized. | Mathematics |
| path tracing | A rendering algorithm similar to ray tracing that uses random sampling to incrementally compute a final image. | Graphics |
| pipeline | A series of processes or functional blocks that describe data flow. | Programming |
| pivot point | In 2D, the point around which an object is transformed. | Mathematics |
| quadtree | A special type of tree data structure used in spatial partitioning. It recursively divides a space into four quads of the same size. | Graphics |
| ray tracing | A rendering algorithm in which rays are cast from a virtual camera and traced through a simulated scene. | Graphics |
| reflection | The ability of a program to perform introspect at run-time, and modify its data structures. | Programming |
| render frame | An individual frame rendered by a program. | Graphics |
| render pass | A phase of rendering in which rendering commands are recorded. | Graphics |
| serialization | The ability of a program to load and save its data structures to memory or to an external storage. | Programming |
| static allocation | A static allocation of memory is determined at compile time. The memory is allocated before the program starts. | System |
| stencil buffer | Memory buffer that can store per-pixel information. Its use is application-specific. | Graphics |
| text | A text file is a file stored in text format. It is a structured as a sequence of lines of text. | System |
| thread group | A logical collection of executing threads grouped together and treatable as a single entity. | System |
| tiling | Process by which scene rendering is performed multiple times on subsections of the final render target dimensions. | Graphics |
| title safe area | The inner rectangle within a percentage of the X and Y screen resolution where critical visuals are displayed. | Graphics |
| variadic macro | In C++, a macro function that accepts a varying number of arguments. | Programming |
| vectorization | Process one operation on multiple pairs of operands at once. Often used for high-performance vector math. | System |
| viewport | A 2D rectangle into which a 3D scene is projected. The viewport limits the visible area of a scene. | Graphics |
| Vulkan | A low-level, low-overhead cross-platform 3D graphic and computing API developed by the Khronos Group. | Graphics |
| world streaming | World streaming refers to the the process of loading sections of the world into memory while the player moves throughout the world. | Game |
| CMake | A cross-platform, open-source application for managing the build process. | Programming |