Glossary

A word you do not understand should not block your reading. This glossary explains every technical term in plain language, with no software craftsmanship background assumed.

A

ADR (Architecture Decision Record) A short document that records an architectural decision: the context, the options considered, the chosen decision, and the reasons. Serves as the project’s memory. → See Patterns

Agent In SKRAFT, a specialised AI program that plays a precise role in the pipeline (e.g. backlog-discoverer, solution-architect). An executor agent produces artifacts; a reviewer agent emits verdicts. → See Agents

Artifact Any file produced by the pipeline: refined stories, ADRs, BDD scenarios, code, test reports. Artifacts constitute the auditable trace of the work.

B

Backlog A prioritised list of features or User Stories to develop. The backlog is the project’s “to-do list”.

BDD (Behaviour-Driven Development) A development method where expected behaviours are described in structured natural language (Gherkin: Given / When / Then) before writing code. Allows non-developers to understand and validate tests.

C

Clean Architecture A software architecture style that separates business rules from technical details (databases, frameworks, interfaces). Proposed by Robert C. Martin. → See Patterns

Craft (software craftsmanship) An approach to software development emphasising quality, best practices, and professionalism. A software craftsperson writes readable, tested, and maintainable code.

CQS (Command-Query Separation) A design principle: a method either modifies state (command) or returns a value (query), never both. In SKRAFT, reviewers are read-only (they are queries, not commands).

CQRS (Command Query Responsibility Segregation) A principle that separates write operations (commands) from read operations (queries) in an application.

D

DDD (Domain-Driven Design) A design approach centred on the business domain. Code reflects the vocabulary and concepts of the business (ubiquitous language). Proposed by Eric Evans. → See Patterns

E

Event Modeling A specification technique that describes a system as a sequence of events over time. Facilitates communication between technical and business teams.

Event Sourcing An architectural pattern where the state of a system is reconstructed from a sequence of immutable events, rather than a current state in a database.

G

Gate (quality gate) A checkpoint between two phases of the SKRAFT pipeline. A gate defines precise criteria that must be met to progress. If criteria are not met, the phase restarts. → See Gates

Gherkin A structured language for writing BDD scenarios: Given (context), When (action), Then (expected result).

L

Lens (reviewer lens) In SKRAFT, a specialised viewpoint applied during adversarial review. The 4 lenses are: architecture-boundaries, cold-reader, quality-gates, test-integrity. → See Lenses

M

Mutation testing A technique that slightly modifies the source code (introduces “mutants”) to verify that tests detect them. A test that does not detect a mutant is a weak test.

O

Object Calisthenics A set of 9 design rules applied to object-oriented code to enforce structural quality. Example: one level of indentation per method, no getters/setters.

Outside-In TDD A TDD variant where tests start at the outermost level (observable behaviour) and descend to internal details. Also called “London School TDD”. → See Skills

P

Pattern (architecture pattern) A proven solution to a recurring problem. SKRAFT patterns (DDD, Clean Architecture, CQRS…) are documented with their original reference. → See Patterns

Pipeline The sequence of 5 SKRAFT phases: DISCOVER → DISCUSS → DESIGN → DISTILL → DELIVER. Each phase has an executor agent, a reviewer, and a gate. → See The pipeline

R

Rework Work that must be redone because it did not pass review. SKRAFT aims to reduce rework by filtering defects early in the pipeline.

Reviewer A read-only AI agent that emits a verdict (APPROVE, CONDITIONAL_APPROVE, REJECT) on artifacts produced by an executor agent. A reviewer never modifies artifacts (CQS principle).

S

Skill In SKRAFT, a tooled practice encapsulated in a SKILL.md file. A skill defines what to do, how to do it, and which references justify it. → See Skills

State.json A traceability file produced by the SKRAFT pipeline. It contains the history of phases, artifacts, and verdicts for a User Story.

T

TDD (Test-Driven Development) A method where tests are written before code. Cycle: Red (failing test) → Green (minimal code) → Refactor (improvement).

TTM (Time-to-Market) The delay between defining a feature and its availability in production. A key metric for decision-makers. → See For decision-makers

U

Ubiquitous Language A shared vocabulary between developers and domain experts, used in both conversations and code. A central concept of DDD.

Use Case A description of an interaction between an actor and the system to achieve a goal. In SKRAFT, each pipeline pass treats exactly one Use Case.

User Story A short description of a feature from the user’s perspective: “As a [role], I want [action] so that [benefit].”

V

Verdict The result of a review by a reviewer: APPROVE (validated), CONDITIONAL_APPROVE (validated with conditions), REJECT (to be corrected). A REJECT triggers a correction and a new review.

W

Walking Skeleton The first iteration of a project that cuts through all architecture layers end to end with a minimal feature. Validates the architecture before building the details.

Sources

The terms in this glossary are defined from their reference works:

The full bibliography is on the Citations page.