Quick answer
This glossary explains the OutSystems and low-code terms buyers, developers and students meet most often, from OutSystems 11 and ODC to aggregates, Forge and BPT, plus the engagement terms used when hiring OutSystems developers.
- Low-code
- A way of building software with visual tools and reusable components instead of writing every line of code by hand. Developers still write logic and expressions.
- OutSystems
- A low-code platform for building enterprise web and mobile applications, with tools to develop, deploy, monitor and manage them.
- OutSystems 11 (O11)
- The established generation of the OutSystems platform, which can run in the OutSystems cloud or on self-managed infrastructure.
- OutSystems Developer Cloud (ODC)
- OutSystems’ cloud-native platform, built on a Kubernetes-based architecture and managed by OutSystems, where software is organised as apps and libraries.
- Service Studio
- The OutSystems 11 development environment where developers build screens, logic and data models.
- ODC Studio
- The development environment for OutSystems Developer Cloud.
- ODC Portal
- The web console for managing ODC apps, environments, users and external libraries.
- LifeTime
- The OutSystems 11 console for managing environments, deployments between them, and user permissions.
- Forge
- OutSystems’ library of reusable components, connectors and templates shared by OutSystems and its community.
- Module
- In OutSystems 11, a unit of an application that holds screens, logic or data; applications are made of modules.
- App and library (ODC)
- In ODC, an app is a deployable application and a library is a reusable component that apps consume.
- Reactive Web app
- An OutSystems web application that runs much of its logic in the browser for a fast, modern user experience.
- Traditional Web app
- The older OutSystems 11 web app type, rendered on the server; it is not available in ODC.
- Entity
- A table of data in an OutSystems app, such as Customer or Order.
- Static entity
- An entity with a fixed set of records defined at design time, such as a list of statuses.
- Aggregate
- A visual query that fetches and combines data from entities without writing SQL.
- Server action
- Logic that runs on the server, for example to save data or call an external API.
- Client action
- Logic that runs in the user’s browser or device in a Reactive or mobile app.
- Screen and block
- A screen is a page in the app; a block is a reusable piece of user interface placed on screens.
- BPT (Business Process Technology)
- The OutSystems 11 feature for modelling long-running business processes.
- ODC Workflows
- ODC’s tool for building and automating business processes.
- Timer
- An OutSystems 11 scheduled job that runs server logic at set times.
- Extension / external library
- Custom code that extends OutSystems: C# extensions in OutSystems 11 and .NET external libraries in ODC.
- Conversion Assessment Tool
- OutSystems’ official tool that scans O11 apps and reports what blocks or complicates conversion to ODC.
- Staff augmentation
- Adding external developers to your own team on contract; they work in your processes while the provider handles employment.
- White-label subcontracting
- An IT company subcontracts work to another firm whose developers deliver under the IT company’s brand for its client.
- Fixed-bid project
- An engagement where a defined scope is delivered for an agreed price.
- Industrial training
- Hands-on training with a company, often part of a degree, that ends with a live project.
