A reference from Weave

Engineering & AI glossary

Understand the metrics, models, and methods behind modern engineering. Clear definitions, practical examples, and a closer look at what the numbers actually mean.

All terms

2,008 terms

  • Reference class

    Reference class is an analytical concept for using reference values to understand engineering performance, variation, or capability.

    Engineering analytics

  • Reference class forecasting

    Reference class forecasting is a concept used in software delivery planning to describe a condition, relationship, estimate, or decision about engineering work.

    Flow and capacity planning

  • Refusal evaluation

    Refusal evaluation is a defined lens for examining AI system behavior with a stated task, evidence, and interpretation rule.

    Evaluations and benchmarks

  • Region-aware routing

    Region-aware routing is a model-routing or gateway concept used to manage traffic selection for AI requests. It describes a distinct decision, control, interface, or observation point between an application and one or more model providers.

    Model routing and gateways

  • Regression discontinuity

    Regression discontinuity is a statistical or measurement concept used to describe, compare, or interpret engineering data. Its meaning depends on the unit of analysis, data-generating process, and question being asked.

    Measurement and experimentation

  • Regression testing

    Regression testing repeats relevant tests after a software change to detect unintended effects on behavior that previously worked. It can use unit, integration, system, or end-to-end tests selected according to the change and the risks it may affect.

    Code quality and technical debt

  • Regression to the mean

    Regression to the mean is a statistical or measurement concept used to describe, compare, or interpret engineering data. Its meaning depends on the unit of analysis, data-generating process, and question being asked.

    Measurement and experimentation

  • Reinforcement learning from AI feedback

    Reinforcement learning from AI feedback is a language-model concept about training behavior and measurement. It names a mechanism, representation, training practice, or operational behavior that can change how an AI system processes input and produces output.

    LLM fundamentals

  • Relative estimation

    Relative estimation is a way to organize, support, or evaluate software work so that teams can make useful progress with less avoidable friction. It is most valuable when connected to a concrete outcome and the local conditions of the team using it.

    Developer productivity

  • Relative positional encoding

    Relative positional encoding is a language-model concept about serving behavior and operational tradeoffs. It names a mechanism, representation, training practice, or operational behavior that can change how an AI system processes input and produces output.

    LLM fundamentals

  • Relative risk

    Relative risk is a statistical or measurement concept used to describe, compare, or interpret engineering data. Its meaning depends on the unit of analysis, data-generating process, and question being asked.

    Measurement and experimentation

  • Release approval

    Release approval is a release engineering and DevOps concept for controlling how software changes are prepared, introduced, or understood.

    DORA and DevOps

  • Release automation

    Release automation is a release engineering and DevOps concept for controlling how software changes are prepared, introduced, or understood.

    DORA and DevOps

  • Release batch size

    Release batch size is a software delivery concept used to describe a specific event, interval, control, or operating condition in the path from source change to production behavior. A useful definition names the boundary, unit, and decision the measure supports.

    DORA and DevOps

  • Release cadence

    Release cadence is a software delivery concept used to describe a specific event, interval, control, or operating condition in the path from source change to production behavior. A useful definition names the boundary, unit, and decision the measure supports.

    DORA and DevOps

  • Release candidate

    Release candidate is a software delivery concept used to describe a specific event, interval, control, or operating condition in the path from source change to production behavior. A useful definition names the boundary, unit, and decision the measure supports.

    DORA and DevOps

  • Release change correlation

    Release change correlation is a release engineering and DevOps concept for controlling how software changes are prepared, introduced, or understood.

    DORA and DevOps

  • Release debt

    Release debt is a software maintenance concern describing a condition that can make future changes, verification, operation, or ownership harder. Its practical importance depends on supported behavior, rate of change, and the consequences of delay.

    Code quality and technical debt

  • Release engineering

    Release engineering is a release engineering and DevOps concept for controlling how software changes are prepared, introduced, or understood.

    DORA and DevOps

  • Release forecast

    Release forecast is a concept used in software delivery planning to describe a condition, relationship, estimate, or decision about engineering work.

    Flow and capacity planning

  • Release freeze

    Release freeze is a release engineering and DevOps concept for controlling how software changes are prepared, introduced, or understood.

    DORA and DevOps

  • Release frequency

    Release frequency is a software delivery concept used to describe a specific event, interval, control, or operating condition in the path from source change to production behavior. A useful definition names the boundary, unit, and decision the measure supports.

    DORA and DevOps

  • Release health check

    Release health check is a release engineering and DevOps concept for controlling how software changes are prepared, introduced, or understood.

    DORA and DevOps

  • Release observability

    Release observability is a software delivery concept used to describe a specific event, interval, control, or operating condition in the path from source change to production behavior. A useful definition names the boundary, unit, and decision the measure supports.

    DORA and DevOps

  • Release orchestration

    Release orchestration is a release engineering and DevOps concept for controlling how software changes are prepared, introduced, or understood.

    DORA and DevOps

  • Release planning

    Release planning is a concept used in software delivery planning to describe a condition, relationship, estimate, or decision about engineering work.

    Flow and capacity planning

  • Release queue

    A release queue is the set of completed or release-ready changes waiting to reach users through a production release process. It is downstream of implementation and review, but it remains unfinished under an end-to-end delivery definition.

    Flow and capacity planning

  • Release readiness

    Release readiness is a software delivery concept used to describe a specific event, interval, control, or operating condition in the path from source change to production behavior. A useful definition names the boundary, unit, and decision the measure supports.

    DORA and DevOps

  • Release readiness review

    Release readiness review is a release engineering and DevOps concept for controlling how software changes are prepared, introduced, or understood.

    DORA and DevOps

  • Release readiness signal

    A release readiness signal is evidence used to decide whether a software change or release is sufficiently understood, tested, and supported for its intended production boundary. It may combine quality checks, risk, review, deployment, observability, and operational information.

    DORA and DevOps

  • Release reversal

    Release reversal is a release engineering and DevOps concept for controlling how software changes are prepared, introduced, or understood.

    DORA and DevOps

  • Release rhythm

    Release rhythm is a release engineering and DevOps concept for controlling how software changes are prepared, introduced, or understood.

    DORA and DevOps

  • Release train

    Release train is a software delivery concept used to describe a specific event, interval, control, or operating condition in the path from source change to production behavior. A useful definition names the boundary, unit, and decision the measure supports.

    DORA and DevOps

  • Release window

    Release window is a release engineering and DevOps concept for controlling how software changes are prepared, introduced, or understood.

    DORA and DevOps

  • Relevance evaluation

    Relevance evaluation is a defined lens for examining AI system behavior with a stated task, evidence, and interpretation rule.

    Evaluations and benchmarks

  • Reliability

    Reliability is a statistical or measurement concept used to describe, compare, or interpret engineering data. Its meaning depends on the unit of analysis, data-generating process, and question being asked.

    Measurement and experimentation

  • Reliability testing

    Reliability testing is a software testing or test-design practice used to gather evidence about a defined risk, behavior, boundary, or operating condition. It makes the question under test explicit, identifies the inputs and observations that matter, and gives a team a repeatable basis for deciding whether the result is acceptable.

    Code quality and technical debt

  • Remove duplication

    Remove duplication is a software maintenance concern describing a condition that can make future changes, verification, operation, or ownership harder. Its practical importance depends on supported behavior, rate of change, and the consequences of delay.

    Code quality and technical debt

  • Rename refactoring

    Rename refactoring is a software maintenance concern describing a condition that can make future changes, verification, operation, or ownership harder. Its practical importance depends on supported behavior, rate of change, and the consequences of delay.

    Code quality and technical debt

  • Reopened review

    Reopened review is a practical concept in a pull-request workflow that shapes how people examine, discuss, own, or integrate a proposed change.

    Code review

  • Repetition control

    Repetition control is a language-model concept about generation behavior and sampling. It names a mechanism, representation, prompting pattern, decoding control, or context behavior that can change how an AI system processes input and produces output.

    LLM fundamentals

  • Replenishment

    Replenishment is the activity of deciding which demand should enter a ready queue or delivery commitment population. It balances priority, risk, readiness, and available capacity without requiring every request to be scheduled immediately.

    Flow and capacity planning

  • Repository Comparison

    Repository Comparison is an analytical concept for separating engineering observations into populations whose differences may matter to a decision.

    Engineering analytics

  • Repository Exploration

    Repository Exploration is a software-engineering concept describing how an AI coding system, its tools, or human collaborators handle a defined task.

    AI coding and agents

  • Repository Level Code Generation

    Repository Level Code Generation is a software-engineering concept describing how an AI coding system, its tools, or human collaborators handle a defined task.

    AI coding and agents

  • Representative sample

    Representative sample is a defined lens for examining AI system behavior with a stated task, evidence, and interpretation rule.

    Evaluations and benchmarks

  • Representativeness

    Representativeness asks whether observations reflect the population a claim describes.

    Engineering analytics

  • Reproducibility

    Reproducibility is a statistical or measurement concept used to describe, compare, or interpret engineering data. Its meaning depends on the unit of analysis, data-generating process, and question being asked.

    Measurement and experimentation

  • Request admission control

    Request admission control is a model-routing or gateway concept used to manage reliable request governance for AI requests. It describes a distinct decision, control, interface, or observation point between an application and one or more model providers.

    Model routing and gateways

  • Request cancellation

    Request cancellation is a reliability concept used to describe a specific condition, control, or decision in the operation of software services.

    Reliability and observability