A reference from Weave

Find a term

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 N

20 terms

  • Natural experiment

    Natural experiment 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

  • Natural Language To Code

    Natural Language To Code is a software-engineering concept describing how an AI coding system, its tools, or human collaborators handle a defined task.

    AI coding and agents

  • Nearest-neighbor search

    Nearest-neighbor search 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 fundamentals

  • Negative testing

    Negative 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

  • Nesting depth

    The maximum number of control-flow or structural levels nested inside one another.

    Code quality and technical debt

  • Network partition

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

    Reliability and observability

  • Next-token prediction

    Next-token prediction 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

  • No-repeat n-gram

    No-repeat n-gram is a language-model concept about context selection and limits. 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

  • Normal distribution

    Normal distribution 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

  • Normalized metric

    Normalized metric transforms values for comparison across scale or exposure.

    Engineering analytics

  • North star metric

    North star metric represents a durable customer or product outcome.

    Engineering analytics

  • Notification fatigue

    Notification fatigue 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

  • Notification load

    Notification load is a developer productivity concept that helps teams understand notification load in the context of software delivery.

    Developer productivity

  • Novelty of work

    Novelty of work is a developer productivity concept that helps teams understand novelty of work in the context of software delivery.

    Developer productivity

  • Nucleus sampling

    Nucleus sampling 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

  • Null hypothesis

    Null hypothesis 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

  • Null rate

    Null rate measures absent or unusable values in a field.

    Engineering analytics

  • Number needed to treat

    Number needed to treat 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

  • Numerator

    Numerator defines which events sit above a rate's division line.

    Engineering analytics

  • Numerator drift

    Numerator drift is an analytical risk or quality concern that can make an engineering analysis appear more certain, comparable, or causal than it is.

    Engineering analytics