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Understand the metrics, models, and methods behind modern engineering. Clear definitions, practical examples, and a closer look at what the numbers actually mean.
Terms beginning with H
17 termsHallucination
An AI hallucination is a generated statement or artifact that is unsupported, fabricated, or incorrect for the task and available evidence. A fluent answer can still contain hallucinations.
LLM fundamentalsHandoff count
Handoff count is a developer productivity concept that helps teams understand handoff count in the context of software delivery.
Developer productivityHandoff delay
Handoff delay is the elapsed time between one participant completing its part of work and the next participant beginning the corresponding action. It is a process delay, not necessarily a sign of individual inactivity.
Flow and capacity planningHawthorne effect
Hawthorne effect 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 experimentationHead-based sampling
Head-based sampling is a sampling decision made near the beginning of a trace before its outcome is known.
Reliability and observabilityHealth check
Health check is a request or probe reporting whether a service meets a defined operational condition.
Reliability and observabilityHealth signal
Health signal is a reliability concept used to describe a specific condition, control, or decision in the operation of software services.
Reliability and observabilityHeterogeneous treatment effect
Heterogeneous treatment effect 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 experimentationHidden state
Hidden state is a language-model concept about representation and similarity. 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 fundamentalsHistogram
Histogram 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 experimentationHistogram bucket
Histogram bucket is a count of observations at or below a defined boundary in a distribution.
Reliability and observabilityHistorical cycle time
Historical cycle time is a concept used in software delivery planning to describe a condition, relationship, estimate, or decision about engineering work.
Flow and capacity planningHistorical throughput
Historical throughput is a concept used in software delivery planning to describe a condition, relationship, estimate, or decision about engineering work.
Flow and capacity planningHotfix rate
Hotfix rate 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 DevOpsHuman evaluation
Human evaluation is a structured review in which people rate or compare model outputs using defined criteria. It captures qualities such as usefulness, factuality, tone, and task fit that may be difficult to reduce to one automated score.
Measurement and experimentationHuman In The Loop Agent
Human In The Loop Agent is a software-engineering concept describing how an AI coding system, its tools, or human collaborators handle a defined task.
AI coding and agentsHypothesis multiplicity
Hypothesis multiplicity is an analytical risk or quality concern that can make an engineering analysis appear more certain, comparable, or causal than it is.
Engineering analytics