Articles
Explanations, step-by-step guides, cheat sheets and fixes. Pick an area, or tell us what you need.
What kind of help
What do these mean?
- Beginner
- You are new to this topic.
- Intermediate
- You use it, and want to get better.
- Advanced
- You know it well and need the details.
- Guided project
- Build something small from start to finish, step by step.
- Explains an idea
- Plain words on how something works and why.
- Step by step
- Numbered steps to get one task done.
- Cheat sheet
- Commands and options in a table, to look up fast.
- Fixes an error
- An error message, what it means, and how to solve it.
Area
Clear filters
297 entries match these filters
- 0303 What is CORS? CORS is a browser rule that decides whether a web page from one site is allowed to call an API on another… Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Making requests 15 Oct 2026
- 0319 Fix: npm ERR! EACCES permission denied npm cannot write to a directory it needs: the global install location, its cache in ~/.npm, or a node_modules owned by root.… Beginner · Fixes an error · Linux, macOS Article Common errors · Node.js 15 Oct 2026
- 0304 What is a cookie? A cookie is a small piece of text a website stores in your browser so it can recognise you on the next… Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Authentication 15 Oct 2026
- 0289 What is a process? A process is a running program; the operating system gives each one its own memory and an ID number. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Processes & ports 15 Oct 2026
- 0305 What is a token? A token is a string that proves who you are or what you may do, sent with requests instead of a password. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Authentication 15 Oct 2026
- 0290 What is a cron job? A cron job is a command scheduled to run automatically at set times, such as every night at two o'clock. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article cron & timers 15 Oct 2026
- 0306 What is hashing? Hashing turns any data into a fixed length fingerprint that cannot be reversed, used to check files and store passwords. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Secrets & access 15 Oct 2026
- 0291 What is a log? A log is a running record of what a program did and when, written to a file so you can look back… Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Logs 15 Oct 2026
- 0307 What is encryption? Encryption scrambles data with a key so only someone with the right key can read it again. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article TLS & certificates 15 Oct 2026
- 0292 What is a database? A database is an organised store of data that programs can search, update and share safely, even with many users at once. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Choosing a database 15 Oct 2026
- 0308 What is a backup snapshot? A snapshot is a frozen picture of a disk or system at one moment that you can roll back to if something… Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Strategy & restore drills 15 Oct 2026
- 0293 What is SQL? SQL is the language you use to ask a relational database questions and to add, change or delete its data. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Queries 15 Oct 2026
- 0309 What is RAID? RAID combines several disks into one so data survives a disk failure or is read and written faster. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Disks, LVM & filesystems 15 Oct 2026
- 0294 What is an index (database)? A database index is a lookup structure that lets the database find rows fast instead of reading the whole table. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Indexes & performance 15 Oct 2026
- 0310 What is a cluster? A cluster is a group of computers working together as one system so that if one fails the others keep the service… Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Clusters & high availability 15 Oct 2026
- 0295 What is a transaction? A transaction groups several database changes so they all happen together or not at all, keeping the data consistent. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Queries 15 Oct 2026
- 0311 What is Kubernetes? Kubernetes is a system that runs containers across many servers, restarting, scaling and connecting them automatically. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Concepts 15 Oct 2026
- 0296 What is a primary key? A primary key is the column that uniquely identifies each row in a table, like an ID number nobody else can have. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Queries 15 Oct 2026
- 0312 What is a pod? A pod is the smallest unit Kubernetes runs: one or more containers that share a network address and storage. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Workloads & services 15 Oct 2026
- 0297 What is a foreign key? A foreign key is a column that points to the primary key of another table, linking related rows together. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Joins 15 Oct 2026
- 0313 What is CI/CD? CI/CD is the habit of automatically testing every code change and, once it passes, deploying it without manual steps. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Pipelines, runners & hooks 15 Oct 2026
- 0298 What is JSON? JSON is a simple text format for structured data, made of names, values, lists and nested objects, used everywhere on the web. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article CSV & JSON 15 Oct 2026
- 0314 What is a pull request? A pull request asks teammates to review and merge the changes on your branch into the main branch. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Pull requests 15 Oct 2026
- 0299 What is YAML? YAML is a human friendly text format for configuration files where indentation shows structure instead of brackets. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article CSV & JSON 15 Oct 2026
- 0315 What is open source? Open source software is software whose code anyone can read, change and share under a licence that allows it. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Pull requests 15 Oct 2026
- 0268 What is a container? A container is a lightweight box that packs a program with everything it needs so it runs the same on any computer. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Docker basics 15 Oct 2026
- 0284 What is a shell? A shell is the program that reads the commands you type and tells the operating system to run them. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Basics 15 Oct 2026
- 0269 What is a commit? A commit is a saved snapshot of your project in Git, with a message explaining what changed and why. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Branching & rebasing 15 Oct 2026
- 0285 What is a terminal? A terminal is the window where you type commands; the shell inside it does the actual work. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Basics 15 Oct 2026
- 0270 What is a branch? A branch is a separate line of work in Git, so you can try changes without touching the main version of the… Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Branching & rebasing 15 Oct 2026
- 0286 What is PATH? PATH is the list of folders your shell searches to find a program when you type its name. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Basics 15 Oct 2026
- 0271 What is a merge conflict? A merge conflict happens when two branches changed the same lines and Git needs a human to decide which version wins. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Branching & rebasing 15 Oct 2026
- 0287 What is an environment variable? An environment variable is a named value the operating system passes to programs, such as settings or secrets. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Basics 15 Oct 2026
- 0272 What is a virtual machine? A virtual machine is a complete computer made of software, running inside another computer with its own operating system. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Basics 15 Oct 2026
- 0288 What is a daemon or service? A daemon or service is a program that runs in the background all the time, waiting to do its job without a… Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Services & systemd 15 Oct 2026
- 0273 What is a hypervisor? A hypervisor is the software layer that creates and runs virtual machines and shares the real hardware between them. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article Basics 15 Oct 2026
- 0274 What is DNS? DNS is the internet's phone book: it turns names like example.com into the IP addresses computers actually use. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article DNS, IP addresses & ports 15 Oct 2026
- 0275 What is an IP address? An IP address is the unique number that identifies a device on a network so data knows where to go. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article DNS, IP addresses & ports 15 Oct 2026
- 0276 What is SSH? SSH is a secure way to open a command line on another computer over the network, with everything encrypted. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article SSH 15 Oct 2026
- 0277 What is TLS? TLS is the encryption layer that puts the S in HTTPS, protecting data between your browser and a server. Beginner · Explains an idea · Any system Article TLS & certificates 15 Oct 2026