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 W
40 termsWaiting time
Waiting time is a developer productivity concept that helps teams understand waiting time in the context of software delivery.
Developer productivityWaiting work
Waiting work is unfinished work that is not currently receiving the next processing action it needs. It includes queue time and may include explicitly blocked items, depending on the workflow definition.
Flow and capacity planningWalkthrough review
Walkthrough review is a practical concept in a pull-request workflow that shapes how people examine, discuss, own, or integrate a proposed change.
Code reviewWarm start
Warm start is the serving concept concerned with warm start during AI inference.
Inference performanceWarmup steps
Warmup steps is a language-model concept about mechanism and information flow. It names a mechanism, representation, training practice, or operational behavior that can change how an AI system processes input and produces output.
LLM fundamentalsWasted tokens
Wasted tokens is tokens consumed without contributing to an accepted outcome or necessary operation. It gives teams a way to name, measure, or reason about an economic property of an AI workload without treating raw usage as proof of value.
Token costs and AI ROIWebsocket streaming
Websocket streaming is the serving concept concerned with websocket streaming during AI inference.
Inference performanceWeight only quantization
Weight only quantization is the serving concept concerned with weight only quantization during AI inference.
Inference performanceWeighted average
Weighted average gives observations influence according to stated exposure.
Engineering analyticsWeighted score
Weighted score is a defined lens for examining AI system behavior with a stated task, evidence, and interpretation rule.
Evaluations and benchmarksWeighted shortest job first
Weighted shortest job first is a concept used in software delivery planning to describe a condition, relationship, estimate, or decision about engineering work.
Flow and capacity planningWelch's t-test
Welch's t-test 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 experimentationWhat-if analysis
What-if analysis is a concept used in software delivery planning to describe a condition, relationship, estimate, or decision about engineering work.
Flow and capacity planningWhite-box monitoring
White-box monitoring is monitoring based on internal measurements such as resource use, queues, errors, and latency.
Reliability and observabilityWhite-box testing
White-box 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 debtWilcoxon signed-rank test
Wilcoxon signed-rank test 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 experimentationWIP capacity ratio
A WIP capacity ratio compares the amount of work currently in progress with a stated capacity measure, such as active processing slots or typical concurrent work. It is a diagnostic signal, not a universal target.
Flow and capacity planningWIP expansion
WIP expansion is an increase in work in progress over time. It can result from higher arrival rate, lower throughput, longer cycle time, more blocked work, or a change in what counts as in progress.
Flow and capacity planningWIP limit
A WIP limit is a maximum amount of unfinished work permitted in a defined workflow state or system. It encourages finishing, unblocking, and pulling only when capacity exists.
Flow and capacity planningWork breakdown structure
Work breakdown structure is a concept used in software delivery planning to describe a condition, relationship, estimate, or decision about engineering work.
Flow and capacity planningWork completion forecast
Work completion forecast is a developer productivity concept that helps teams understand work completion forecast in the context of software delivery.
Developer productivityWork complexity
Work complexity is a developer productivity concept that helps teams understand work complexity in the context of software delivery.
Developer productivityWork decomposition
Work decomposition is a developer productivity concept that helps teams understand work decomposition in the context of software delivery.
Developer productivityWork fragmentation
Work fragmentation is a developer productivity concept that helps teams understand work fragmentation in the context of software delivery.
Developer productivityWork in progress
Work in progress is work that has started but has not reached the workflow's agreed finish point. It includes active implementation as well as started items waiting for review, clarification, testing, or another dependency.
Flow and capacity planningWork item age
Work item age is the time that has passed since a selected start event for an item that is not yet complete. It makes unfinished work visible and helps teams find items at risk of exceeding a service expectation.
Flow and capacity planningWork item predictability
Work item predictability is a developer productivity concept that helps teams understand work item predictability in the context of software delivery.
Developer productivityWork item priority
Work item priority is a concept used in software delivery planning to describe a condition, relationship, estimate, or decision about engineering work.
Flow and capacity planningWork item slicing
Work item slicing 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 productivityWork type
Work type is a developer productivity concept that helps teams understand work type in the context of software delivery.
Developer productivityWork Type Segmentation
Work Type Segmentation is an analytical concept for separating engineering observations into populations whose differences may matter to a decision.
Engineering analyticsWorkaround
Workaround 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 debtWorkflow boundary
A workflow boundary is a defined event at which measurement begins or ends, such as ready, implementation started, merged, deployed, or released. Boundaries make two otherwise similar flow measures comparable or explain why they differ.
Flow and capacity planningWorkflow state
A workflow state is a meaningful condition in a work system, such as ready, implementing, reviewing, blocked, or done. States should have explicit entry and exit policies so movement can be observed consistently.
Flow and capacity planningWorkflow transition
A workflow transition is an observable change in a work item's state, such as entering review, becoming blocked, or reaching done. Transitions supply the event history used to measure flow and waiting.
Flow and capacity planningWorking agreement
Working agreement 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 productivityWorkload balance
Workload balance is a developer productivity concept that helps teams understand workload balance in the context of software delivery.
Developer productivityWorkspace routing
Workspace 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 gatewaysWritten communication
Written communication 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 productivityWSJF
WSJF is a concept used in software delivery planning to describe a condition, relationship, estimate, or decision about engineering work.
Flow and capacity planning